Wilted Lilac
by Nightmare Zane
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 0, Favs: 0, Reviews: 0, Communities: 0, Views: 0**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta:** **Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Scarlet Pimpernel**

* * *

 ** _Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis Arvensis):_** _A weedy primulaceous plant (or a tiny wildflower of the lily family) that many misidentify as chickweed. It grows mostly in Europe, Asia, and North America. Common names of this flower are such as 'poor man's weatherglass', 'shepherd's weatherglass'. and 'shepherd's clock' due to its closing quickly when the sky clouds over or if rain approaches. It can also be used for medical purposes. The flower is most noted for being the emblem of the fictional hero the Scarlet Pimpernel. It symbolizes change, particularly a major life change._

* * *

 **Location: Living Room, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 2, 20XX - Friday**

The full moon slowly rose up into the darkened sky, gracing the land below with its pale light; small twinkling stars glittered amongst the black painted canvas. A soft, cool breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees in the still night air. Colorful flowers of all kinds encompassed the garden surrounding a single-story home's exterior as a peal of childish laughter was heard from within. Inside the living room, a tanned four-year-old Tetsuya Kurosawa was running and bouncing around a taller, older, but paler version of himself. Both had messy black hair, akin to a bird's nest, one style reached his shoulders while the other's went down her back.

A blue-eyed Himiko Kurosawa let out a giggle as she swooned from the corner of the room, a baby blue blanket covering herself. "Save me, Hero!"

The short boy jumped onto the couch, raising both arms. "Never fear! I'm here!" An overly large green blanket pooled itself on the cushion he stood on, looking like it was swallowing him, as it was tied around Tetsuya's neck.

"You'll have to get past me first, Hero!" A dark-skinned Sora Tetsuya let out an evil cackle as he jumped out of nowhere, green eyes wide with 'evil' intent. "You'll never get her!" He raised his arms, cackling again.

Sora chased after his son, running around the room as he tried to grab the boy who crawled under the coffee table before going to retrieve the damsel-in-distress. Holding out a hand, he told her, "I'm here to save you!"

"Oh, my Hero!" Himiko grabbed his hand, fluttering her eyes at him, and they both took off to behind the couch. Sora searched for them, calling out to try and get them. The two glanced over the edge of the couch, watching the man look around and scratch his head in confusion.

"Oh no! Where ever could that Hero be?! Once I get him, I'm going to get back that damsel I worked so hard to kidnap!" He declared, raising a fist in the air.

Tetsuya looked at his mama trying to hold in her laughter, before nodding to himself and jumped up. "Never!"

Sora turned just in time to catch Tetsuya as he launched himself off the short arm of the sofa before he hugged him tightly. "Hahah! I was actually after you, Hero!" Tetsuya struggled to get out of his papa's grip, giggling as he began to tickle Tetsuya's stomach as he was set on the floor.

The child managed to get out between laughs, "St-stop it, papa!"

"Nope," Sora snorted, wiggling his fingers on Tetsuya's sides and feet. "I'm a Villain so I can't let the Hero go!"

"Pa-papa!" Tetsuya wiggled on the carpet, trying to break free. "Ma-mama! Help!"

The mother sighed, shaking her head as she smiled at her boys. She stood, grabbing the blanket that had fallen to the ground, and made her way out from behind the couch over to her boy after taking a look at the time. "Now. Now, honey, stop that unless you want to sleep on the couch tonight," she mentioned casually, folding her blanket.

Sora froze, eyes widening as Tetsuya caught his breath between giggles. Green eyes glanced up with a pout. "But Hime-chan..."

Himiko raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Sora..."

"Fine..." Sora huffed, cheeks puffing out as he stood, grabbing his boy up from the floor and untying the blanket around his neck when Tetsuya yawned, rubbing his tired eyes.

"It's also bedtime for our little Hero."

Tetsuya shook his head. "Nooo… I'm not tired." He let out another yawn as the parents shared amused looks.

"Sure, you aren't," Sora chuckled, tucking the other into his arms as he let him rest his head on the man's shoulder before making their way to Tetsuya's room. "Bedtime, little man."

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 2, 20XX - Friday**

Himiko pulled away the sky patterned blanket on Tetsuya's bed that sat in the far-left corner of the bedroom as Sora set the almost asleep boy on the bed, resting his head on his bright blue pillow. Black hair spread out on the pillow as Tetsuya let out another yawn, rubbing his eyes. "Mama... Papa... Do you think I can be a Hero?"

Sora sighed warmly as he gave his son a fond smile, brushing some of his hair away from his half-lidded eyes. "Of course, you can! You'll be the most amazing Hero that ever lived!"

Himiko nodded in agreement. Their son was approaching four years old in a mere two weeks and they would need to take him to the doctor to be examined soon. Moving the blanket over his body, she tucked it around the boy to keep him nice and warm. "I'm sure you'll be a great hero someday." She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "After all, you're my sweet, precious little boy!"

"Yeah... Mama..." He mumbled as he flushed red, grabbing onto a black cat stuffed animal that sat next to his pillow and snuggled it up against his cheek with a smile. It was his favorite toy in the whole wide world!

"Would you like a song to help you sleep, Tet-chan?"

Tetsuya nodded. "Yes, mama..."

Sora crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall next to the open door as his wife sat on the edge of the bed, clearing her throat. Upon opening her mouth, out came a sweet, light tune as she began to sing a lullaby. " _*Then the boy fell asleep and one or two embers in the fading ashes of the fire flared up in the shape of a beloved face. Dreaming many thousands of dreams spreading across the land._ "

"Mmmmm..." Tetsuya hummed in content, body relaxing.

The lullaby was a slow one, the melody of his Mama's voice slowly rocking Tetsuya to sleep. " _Your silver-gray eyes shine their light like stars falling down from the night sky. Even though countless of years turn so many prayers back to earth._ " Himiko petted her son's hair softly, fingertips brushing the remaining out of his drooping eyes before slowly standing up as to not wake the child. " _I will keep praying somehow, love for this child, please kissing the joined hands._ "

Leaning over, Himiko gave Tetsuya a peck on the forehead before Sora had followed her move, smiling at his child when Tetsuya snuggled deeper into his bed. They headed back towards the door. "Good night, Tetsuya," Sora said as his finger moved to the light switch. "We love you."

The black-haired child was already asleep as the two parents shared another smile, turning the light switch off making the light go out within the room, and closed the door softly behind them. Clasping hands, the tired couple moved toward their room, ready to go to sleep themselves.

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

Just as the numbers on the digital clock blinked past midnight, a grumbling feeling within Tetsuya's gut had woken him up from a dream of him flying through the air. He frowned and rubbed his belly, letting out a moan as the feeling steadily grew worse. It was a dull ache. As it subsided for just a moment, he heard a whimper escape his lips when it came back tenfold. A sudden searing pain coursed through his body, back arching against his bed as the pain rushed like an igniting fire. His eyes squeezed closed as his face contorted, his head pounding when eyes, the pale moonlight seeping through the window showing his green irises changing to a bright, glowing molten gold as the whites of his eyes changed to black, shoot open as he opened his mouth in a scream of ominous, brittle silence.

He grabbed his hair, the blankness slowly shifting to a grey before it shifted to a white, as his bones scraped against one another and cracked as his body transformed. The silent screams told of the pain within, confusion, unable to bring a thought to completion. Shaky breaths escaped passed his lips, the temperature bearing down on him.

Not right... Not right!

A mess.

Something was hurting. Something ached inside. Something felt so wrong, so invalid...

So empty... Cold... It was like a gap inside him.

His fingers felt like something was pulling at them, clawing at his arms as he tried to escape the cold feeling, a sharp pain cutting into them as drops of blood began to trickle down his slowly graying skin. He tried to call out for his Mama... his Papa... nothing but a gurgle came out as he struggled to breathe, shivering from the cold and the burning pain. His skin was pale and clammy, face closed in a grimace as tears pricked the corner of his eyes.

It was merciless without escape.

His body hurt. His arms ached and burned. He felt numb - a cold feeling was slowly taking over - a freezing feeling, unable to get away. He was exhausted. It was savage, bitter blasts that gripped him in its freezing claws. His heart constricted in its wake, beating right against his chest, as if not sure what to do.

"H-help... me... Mama! Pa... pa..." He cried out, voice tiny and barely even a whimper as a hot, painful sensation began to tingle in his throat.

It burned...

He struggled on his bed, his blanket on the floor as it had been kicked off not long ago, before he fell from his bed, letting out another whimper. He crawled slowly, limbs heavy and uncooperative, the biting cold chilling his fingers into clumsy numbness, cold seeping into his toes and spread painfully throughout his body, to the corner of the room before his body froze. Shadows clung to him. Darkness was enclosing everything around him. It was dancing in the moon's light. Something was choking him. Something was wrong.

Wrong. _Wrong._ **_Wrong._** _**Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong-**_

The coldness crept up through his body before stopping at his throat. Opening his mouth, an inky black, oily substance expelled from within him, bringing the burning, frozen feeling along with it. It only opened the growing void inside him wider. A dark void.

A never-ending dark void that consumed everything warm.

The temperature dropped to freezing, his breath ghosting in front of him, as he curled up against the corner. Tears escaped once more as black dots blotted his vision. His mind pounded. He gripped his head, hair sticking out between his fingers, as he felt something sharp scrape against his scalp. It only added fuel to the fire.

He felt entirely empty then. Hollow. Then a consuming need.

He couldn't - wouldn't - move.

His cry for help was drowned out as he was shrouded in darkness.

* * *

 _*Song: 14th's Lullaby from D Gray-Man. (It's a wonderful song and a wonderful show/manga. I highly recommend checking out the anime/manga and going to YouTube to listen to the song as well as all other material out if you had not already.)_

 **Author's Note: College has also started up again this week. So that's nice. Let's see if I'll crash and burn or rise above this time around. It's the last term for my A.S. before I go and start on my A.A. ^^ And here it finally is after so long of planning and working things out... Wilted Lilac as finally begun, and it is here to stay. Hopefully. This is actually my first time doing something like this - two OCs and fanfics for each of them in one fandom. It's usually one OC per fandom and all that. No real reason behind it. It's just how I'd usually do things. I've grown to like Boku no Hero Academia unlike I thought I would. Soooo... Yay!**

 **What do you think?**

 **Here's Tetsuya's Profile, picture, and the folder of everything I've got on him. _(Just take out the spaces and the links should work.)_**

 **Bio: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Kurosawa-Tetsuya-BNHA-OC-763678747**

 **Picture: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Tetsuya-Kurosawa-Profile-767362496**

 **Folder: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_gallery/_67298208/_Tetsuya**

 **I like creating pictures for Tetsuya just as I've done with Hisoka. I'll post links whenever I make one. Got any ideas for me to draw because I am always open to new ideas. It's on DeviantArt so hit me up there with a message if you have an account as well. Tetsuya's and Hisoka's bios are also constantly updating as the story goes on with new information on them. So, it's best to keep an eye on both of them. Hopefully, the next chapter will be longer and be out in two weeks. This will be updated bi-weekly just like The Hand That Bleeds (if you haven't read that story yet... Go!) will be as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 10, Favs: 8, Reviews: 1, Communities: 5, Views: 75**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta:** **Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **Vedahzii- Congratulations on being the first to review! Oho hohohohoho! -rubs hands- Tetsuya is (i.e. me) going to take you places you won't even begin to believe! Maybe. Who knows what can happen now~? Anyway, I'm sure you'll get that butt in gear soon enough. ^^ I know you can do it! I'm rooting for you, Vedahzii! Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Yellow Sunflowers**

* * *

 ** _Yellow Sunflowers (Helianthus):_** _It is a popular annual flower that is native to North America, whose round flower heads look like the sun. During its growth, sunflowers tilt during the day to face the sun and when they mature, they generally face east as well as attract a wide range of wildlife to their abundant care such as bees and butterflies. Native Americans have made use of the sunflower and its part around 2,000 - 3,000 years ago. It can be used in many things from bread dough to a lubricating oil. The sunflower is the Greek symbol of Clytie (a water nymph) who was turned into a sunflower after grieving over the loss of her love (Apollo). It's also a symbol of happiness. It symbolizes the dedication to weather all storms together and emerge victorious on the other side_.

* * *

 **Location: Master Bedroom, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

It was early in the morning. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, steadily washing away the once dark sky with copper hues that would meld with mellow blues in a blur soon enough. The trees shone as if they were wearing golden crowns. It brought warmth to the ground below, awakening the Earth's occupants with its rays, the tweet of sparrows with an explicit background melody, and the groans of adults knowing they would not be able to sleep in if they had work.

Green eyes cracked open as bits of light peaked through the slightly ajar curtains before Sora cracked open his mouth, letting out a deep, tired yawn. Blinking slowly, he let his body and mind catch up to one another as his vision cleared up before he had to get up. Next to him, curled up by his side was his Hime-chan, using his arm as a pillow (which he'd have to get back soon or else risk that tingling sensation he hated), and was softly snoring, oblivious to the world around her. He let a goofy grin slip on his lips as he saw her black hair spread out around her.

It looked like there was going to be another case of wild, untamable bed hair today.

All of the sudden, he felt himself shiver as waves of an icy coldness circled inside the room. Even the usual think blanket that they used during the colder nights was not effective in shielding them from this cold. How had he not felt this? Had they left a window open and forgot about it? It had happened before on occasion. But it had never gotten this cold before. His toes felt like they'd freeze off.

It was unexplainable.

"Mmmmm... Whyz so... cold? Ice age..." Himiko mumbled beside him, voice heavy with sleep while letting out a yawn as she rubbed her eyes. As awareness dawned on her, she looked up at her husband with a confused look, bundling herself up to try and strive off the cold. "Did you... turn the AC down again?"

They sat up as he shook his head. "No. I think a window was left open."

Himiko shook her head. "No. Last I checked, before we went to bed, there wasn't any."

He shared a frown with her. "Then do-" A loud bang knocking against the wall interrupted him, causing him to jerk. "Shit! What was that?!"

The woman's blue eyes widened as she jumped out of the bed and raced out of their room, exclaiming, "That was in Tetsuya's room!" Sora was right behind her, the lamp from their bedside dresser in his hands.

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

Yellow eyes snapped opened as Tetsuya gasped awake, lungs sucking in the air greedily as memories of the growing cold and pain from last night reemerged. "Wha-what..." He mumbled, groaning as he moved around from the corner he had escaped too before shivering.

It was cold, cutting right through his chest... He felt numb.

Empty.

No mercy.

It wasn't until he grasped his shirt when he noticed his spindly and ashen hands - trembling in fright at the sight of the black claws that were ready to maim - and the scratches that teared up the floor, leaving deep gashes engraved within the wood. "A-Ah-hhh..." Tetsuya began to wail, hands covering his face.

It hurt.

Scared... (Wrong. _Wrong._ **_Wrong._** )

The boy whimpered.

He wanted his mama and papa!

He never noticed the doorknob to his room turning and the scream that followed, startling him from his whimpers as his head snapped up. Mama! Papa! They'd help! They always knew what to do! They'd make him feel better! Mama! Papa! Glowing golden eyes stared right into the frightened eyes of his mama and papa.

Just as Himiko and Sora had entered, they felt an illogical fear grip them as it mixed with their growing worry. It was freezing inside. Sora gulped, raising the improvised weapon high as he took a look around the room before his eyes widened at the creature huddled in the corner of their son's room where he wasn't... He took a cautious step forward, swallowing despite the lump in his throat, eyes bearing hate towards the thing - gold shining on black sclera that seemed to stare right into his soul and paralyze him - as he demanded, "Where is my son!?"

Sora felt so cold. The room felt like it was going to eat him alive - to suck out all his warmth, something that was slowly seeping out already. The thing shook and huddled itself tighter into itself, a voice whispering through a static-like rip where its mouth was, "Ah-ah-ah... Pa-pa... Ma-ma... I'm scared!"

What?

Himiko's eyes widened, a hand over her mouth as she realized it - no, _he_ \- was her son. Her child! Her sweet, little baby! And he was calling out to her! Reaching for her!

"Mama!" Tetsuya cried, stumbling - no... gliding - to stand and reached his arms out for her. "Mama! I'm scared!"

The closer he got the more something inside her screamed at the top of its lungs for her to grab Sora and run. That if she stayed it would hurt them - eat her alive. Devour what made them _human_.

"I'm so cold, mama... Help me!"

But this was her baby boy and what kind of mother would she be to ignore her own child as he cried out for help?!

Against her survival instincts and that bitter cold feeling of fear inside the pit of her gut, she wrapped her arms tightly around her son's trembling frame. "Oh, baby! Mama's here now! I'm so sorry! Everything will be okay! Mama's got you!" She ignored the way his claws gripped and poked into her back. She ignored how that freezing feeling seemed to soak - leech - up her warmth.

She felt her husband then wrap his arms around them, whispering sweet nothings to them as Tetsuya sobbed into her shoulder. "We'll figure this out... together!" They held him tighter, trying to ignore everything - from the echoey effect of his voice, the shadowy tendrils that constantly moved, to the chilling and terrifying aura that rolled off of Tetsuya - that had developed over the night. They had never seen anything like this before...

This was still Tetsuya.

This was their son.

Not a monster.

They would figure this out together.

* * *

 **Location: Front Desk, Sanogawa Central Hospital, Sagamihara, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

Sora was beyond annoyed as they arrived at the hospital where he called to make an emergency appointment that very morning. How could people be like that to a child?! Calling his little Tetsuya a Villain! They were the ones acting so villainous. He saw the heartbroken look his wife had and the confused, hurt look gained as they had gotten off the train. It had just made his blood boil. Even if it was an effect from Tetsuya's awakened Quirk.

That still didn't mean they could ostracize him. He had been so close to decking someone - only stopped by his angelic, most beautiful Hime-chan and that it would have set a bad example for his child - right in the face for the comment on how 'unnatural and a freak the boy was'. Kami-sama, give him strength.

People.

As the fuming man stepped up to the sign-in window, a tired Himiko behind him who held Tetsuya's hand, the orange-skinned, green-haired nurse noticed them. She gave them a polite, professional smile. "Hello. How may I help you this morning?"

Letting out a sigh before he let his anger get the better of him, Sora smiled tiredly. "Hello, my name is Sora Kurosawa, and this is my wife, Himiko Kurosawa. We had called to make an emergency appointment today for our son. Tetsuya.

Bright purple eyes gleamed with recognition as she typed at the computer efficiently and quickly, confirming the information and looked back to the family. "I see you right here, Kurosawa-san. You are right on time. The doctor will be with you and your family... Speaking of that, where is your son?" She glanced around, trying to see if she could spot the small child.

Himiko nervously swallowed, the pit in her stomach crunching all over, as she leaned down to pick her child in her arms. "Tet-chan, say hello to the nice nurse," she said softly. He was easy to pick up, immediately wrapping his arms around her neck, catching the nurse's attention instantly.

The parents braced for her reaction.

The nurse's smile quickly slid off as Tetsuya looked over his shoulder to peer at her; the side effect of his new Quirk caused a coil of senseless dismay and distress inside her. She shot up out of her station unprofessionally and took an unconscious step back; his wide eyes stared unnerving at her. He couldn't even get a word out before he was cut off. "I-I-I'll go g-get the doctor right a-away! Oh, kami-sama..." She mumbled, looking away instantly as she speed walked away, heels clicking in a quick fashion.

Himiko held Tetsuya close to her as he tucked his head into the crook of her neck, muttering that it would be okay. Sora sighed, running a hand through his short hair, shagging it even more. They gave each other a reassuring smile; they couldn't help but feel subdued. The man rubbed Tetsuya's back in comfort before squeezing Himiko's shoulder.

They'd get through this.

* * *

 **Location: Room 107, Sanogawa Central Hospital, Sagamihara, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

They were directed to a room within minutes before the doctor walked in after she had been informed about the side effects that the nurse had from Tetsuya's unknown Quirk. The parents of the family of three sat on provided chairs that were placed next to the examination bed as the child quietly and solemnly kicked his legs back and forth as they waited.

Sora was glad that the doctor - a fair-skinned, light brown-haired woman with brown eyes framed by red glasses - was more professional, freezing for only a moment before clearing her throat. "M-My name is Dr. Haru Matsushita. I will be your doctor for today, Kurosawa-san."

"Please, call me Sora."

"No need to be so formal. Himiko is just fine."

The doctor nodded. She stepped towards Tetsuya, a clipboard in hand. After going over a few things with them, Dr. Matsushita proceeded to test the young boy with the standard procedures, checking and looking over his general health along with making notes on the clipboard before everything settled down. Tetsuya sat on his mama's lap while the doctor settled down at the provided desk within the room. An x-ray of Tetsuya's foot showed off the bones, specifically his pinky toe when she flicked the switch on. "Sora-san. Himiko-san. I am glad you two booked an emergency meeting with me today. I take it, your son has developed his... Quirk this morning?"

As Sora and Himiko glanced at one another, Himiko nodded and began, "Yes, it was already developed when we woke up." She wrapped an arm around her son, forcing down the fleeing sensation when she did. "I am ashamed to say but... even I... we were scared of him upon discovering him. To be honest, we couldn't help some our reactions but..." Her grip tightened, pulling her son closer to herself. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't help my frightened little boy? Tetsuya is still Tetsuya."

Sora jerked his head. "He is and will always be our son, no matter what! But please, doctor, help us understand his Quirk!" The duo bowed immediately.

Haru blinked in surprise at the declaration before taking a deep breath. She eyed the little boy before glancing away, unable to do anything further as teary gold eyes stared back at her with hope. "I'm going to be frank with the both of you. A part of Tetsuya-kun's Quirk seems to make others fear him and I believe that is something he simply won't be able to turn off. However, I will try and help you three to the best of my abilities to figure this all out."

Sora let his stiff shoulders relax a bit as Himiko's eyes grew wet, letting out a soft sniffle, as she exhaled in relief. "Thank you! You don't know how much this means to us!"

Dr. Matsushita's lips thinned, sighing once more. "I am sorry, but I do not want to give either of you or Tetsuya-kun false hope. So please, reserve your thanks until I show you some results."

They nodded as the mother tightened her grasp on her son and the father gripped his knee. The look in their eyes showed that they understood.

After that, Tetsuya was whisked away for a long morning of tests and questions. Haru had called in other professional doctors to help out. Himiko and Sora were not allowed to watch or see their son as the tests were conducted, their worry growing as each hour passed as their minds came up with various scenarios while waiting for the return of their son. They could barely hold down the little amount of food - suggested to them by one of the nurses - or the snacks from the vending machines.

As the time reached one in the afternoon, both of them were holding onto one another. Himiko was biting her lips, head resting on Sora's shoulder, as she wiped her sweaty palms against her light green shirt before wrapping her arms around herself as Sora held her close. Both of them snapped out of their stupor, standing as they heard the door to the office open.

"Mama! Papa!" Tetsuya called out, running into Himiko's open arms to hide his face in the crook of her shoulder as she rubbed his back, again ignoring the way it seemed that the warmth inside was sucked out upon contact with her son.

"Oh, baby! Are you okay?"

Sora leaned in to kiss the top of Tetsuya's head. "You alright, son?"

Tetsuya smiled at them, nodding. "Uh huh! All of them were really nice to me!"

"Sora-san. Himiko-san." Haru closed the door behind her, her eyes holding a tired look in them. "You both may want to take a seat for this."

Himiko sucked in a breath at her tone, following the doctor's suggestion. It didn't speak of positive results.

Sora was handed a stack of papers as Haru sighed and explained, "We have yet to fully determine exactly what Tetsuya-kun's Quirk is, but we do know that it seems to be creature relation in a way. So far, we've found that he is able to become partly intangible, though not fully controlled yet. He is able to manipulate ice slightly, glide across the ground, and if we guess correctly, in theory, he may even be able to fly in the future. He also has increased strength and speed while in this form and seems able to blend in with dark corners for a few seconds."

Passing over a tablet she had carried in with her to Sora, Haru had him press play. The video on the screen began. It was silent for a moment, Tetsuya sitting on an examination bed with a few doctors standing to the side, and the parents watched as a series of people of both genders from teens to the elderly, both civilians to Pro Heroes, were brought in to experiment with the fear ability of Tetsuya's Quirk. With each negative reaction they got, a deep and ugly feeling grew inside their chests.

"O-Oh geeze..." Sora muttered to himself in shock, eyes wide. Himiko was silent, unable to speak, as she held her precious little baby closer.

Haru nodded in understanding. "So far, we've determined that the main feature of Tetsuya-kun's Quirk is the ability to manipulate fear. This wouldn't be concerning if he was able to consciously control this himself."

"What do you mean?"

"The problem comes from how this is something Tetsuya-kun can't control," Dr. Matsushita sighed. "In simpler terms, his Quirk makes it so others fear him instinctively." At this, Himiko felt the small claws Tetsuya had gained pinch into her skin as he dug his head deeper into her shoulder. If she felt her shoulder grow wet, she said nothing. All she could do was whisper sweet nothings into his ear and slowly brush her fingers through his... white (oh how she missed his black locks... he looked so adorable with them...) hair. The doctor looked remorseful as she continued, "However, we did notice that the older someone was and the stronger their mind or personality was; it was easier for them to overcome their fear of him and remember that Tetsuya-kun is just a little boy. But I'm sorry to say this, Himiko-san, Sora-san, that it would be in your best interest to pull your son from school."

" _What?!_ " Himiko hissed, eyes narrowing as her hand stilled in Tetsuya's hair. Sora pinned Haru with a furious look.

Dr. Matsushita quickly explained her reasoning, "I-I don't think that other children will be able to handle long term exposure to Tetsuya-kun's Quirk. It would likely cause negative responses from both sides. Tetsuya-kun would be unfairly blamed for something out of his control and likely grow with both psychological and emotional trauma from that."

"Do you suggest we homeschool him until his peers are able to handle the side effects of his Quirk when he's old enough then?"

Haru sighed, offering a small smile to the child when he peeked over at her. "Tetsuya-kun is a sweet kid. He was very cooperative and friendly with everyone while we did the tests. If there was another way, then I would have suggested it but with how things look as of right now the current unknown factors of his Quirk and along with how it will develop in the future makes it too risky."

"Then..." Sora trailed off, face grim as the thought never crossed his mind.

"Quirks usually grow stronger as we age, and if Tetsuya's Quirk is already this strong then I am... frightened to how it'll be when he's old enough. I'm... sorry, you two, but unless he was able to control the fear aspect consciously as he grows then I don't recommend letting him interact with other children." She was stared at with blank expressions as she took out a large, thin pamphlet and handed it over. Sora took it after a moment of staring at it while Himiko gathered up her child. "This is an address of a lab run by the government for children that have mutated Quirks... especially like Tetsuya-kun's... are so rare and can be considered well, dangerous. It would be in your best interest if you bring Tetsuya-kun in for regular appointments with them. They'll know much more on how to help you all."

They gave her a quiet thank you for helping them before leaving. Sora didn't say a word, his face empty of any kind emotions as they made their way back home. Himiko held her son in her arms, unable to let go due to the fear from what she had just been told that her son was simply too dangerous to interact with other people.

Her precious little angel.

Her baby boy who smiled at anything and everything that brightened up anyone's day...

Why...

Why did this have to happen to _him_?

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Kurosawa Household, Northeastern Uenohara, Eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 3, 20XX - Saturday**

Tetsuya was quite for the rest of the night, hold up in his room when they had come home. They tried to get him to eat or say something, but he said nothing and didn't touch the food. The occasional sniffle was heard. Sora had been quiet as well, unusual for his normally energetic self. The mother of one trembled from today's events as they finally caught up with her.

Himiko stood outside his bedroom door, a saddened look on her face. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, feeling the chill slowly radiating from cracks of the doorway. Knocking, she called out, "Tet-chan? Baby?" Upon opening the door, letting the light from the hallway illuminate into the dark room, finally able to spot her baby boy due to his eyes watching her intently, he was curled up in the corner of the room - where they had found him just that morning - arms wrapped tightly around his stuffed cat as the shadows enveloped him.

His gold eyes (how she missed those warm, happy green eyes already) looked up at her with fright and hopelessness, a devastated expression, as tears streaked down his cheeks. "M-Mama... A-Am I m-m... monster?" He asked and Himiko almost broke down.

But she couldn't. Not in front of her child. He needed her and his father to be strong. They had to do this to get through everything that was to come.

Himiko raced to the boy, body freezing, and survival instincts turned up, telling her to get away (This was her son, damn it! As if she'd allow a simple Quirk to get in the way of that!), and wrap her arms around him, enveloping him in a hug. "Oh, Tetsuya! Of course, you're not! You can never be a monster! You're human! You're you," she replied with as much assurance as she could muster.

If anyone was a _monster_ , it was fate.

His watery voice muttered, hands clutching onto the back of her shirt, "C-can I still be a H-H-Hero, mama?"

Of course, he could! "If anyone deserves to be a Hero, it's you, Tet-chan! You can be whatever you want to be!" Himiko cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she rocked her baby against her chest. Tetsuya's form flickered between his current one to purely human for a moment, the cold momentarily subsiding before it came back in full force. Himiko could feel herself shiver as she began to hum the tune Tet-chan loved so much and rocked him until she felt his grip on her slacken and his body go limp as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Oh, baby..." She muttered as she laid Tetsuya on the bed, wiping away some stray tears, and tucked him in. "I'm so sorry..." Giving a light kiss on his forehead, she stood up straight and watched her baby for a moment. She knew that society would not be kind to them in the future. People don't change and forgive so easily. Her baby would be hurt by them one way or another...

Himiko could only hope her Tet-chan could forgive his parents for being unable to help him...

Closing the door behind her, she spotted Sora out of the corner of her eye leaning against the wall beside the door. "Honey..."

She let him wrap his arms around her as he led her to their bedroom. "Hime-chan... We will get through this no matter what." Determination lit up in his eyes, a fire in them like never before. "Sure, it will be hard but if it's for Tetsuya then we can endure anything and come out victorious in the end!"

Himiko smiled up at him and nodded, leaning into his form. "Ah."

Anything for their little boy.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Were you surprised by the guest appearance? I hope you were! I thought it'd be nice to give an AU version of Haru where she had never really met Stain or had Hisoka (yet...) that she'd be working in different hospitals - going from area to area due to the nature of her Quirk and just so happened to be in hospital the Kurosawa family was in. ^^**

 **And I hope the chapter is at its best as with the lack of sleep lately I can't be too sure. I hope you like it. Oh, sleep… Where have you been? Anyway… Things are looking up for the Kurosawa family now! If not, they will be! A few more chapters until we get to the main storyline! Yippee!**

 **Now, I'm going to go and sleep. Night!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary:** **"Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes.** **Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 12, Favs: 10, Reviews: 6, Communities: 5, Views:** **208**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta:** **Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **ash20312- Then get even more pumped! Osu! There's a lot going to come and I am sure it will be way more pumped after that. Hehe! And I can see how Himiko could be similar to Inko, especially that reaction, so I had made sure it was different from the start (after rewatching the scene like a dozen or so times...). So we'll see how things turn out for our little kitten as time goes on. I am sure you will be happy with the results. ^^ I love references! I've done so many in THTB but no one ever points them out which makes me a little sad when they can be so blatantly obvious... Aha... Maybe it'll be different for this story.** **Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Prince- Now, now everything will be okay. Eventually. Everything has to be taken at its own paste. ^^ And I just have to say, Himiko is best mom here. (Sorry Haru but Himiko has you beaten!) She's only trying to have fun. And Tetsuya will stay precious if anyone has anything to say. o3o And no, there's no throwing away here. Things will be made clear soon enough. And how did you not notice it was Haru? She said her name right at the start. Lol. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **TheKursed- Well, I look forward to seeing what you think of the story in the future! ^^** **Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Vedahzii- I'm glad that I can make someone's day better. Same here. It's always interesting when other OCs appear in different stories. And I know you can do it! Get off the butt and just do it!** **Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Blue Monkshood**

* * *

 ** _Blue Monkshood (Aconitum)_** _ **:**_ _This herbaceous perennial plant is part of the Buttercup family, coming in a variety of colors, and commonly known as wolf's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket, and must be dealt with very carefully as it can be extremely poisonous. During the early civilization of the Romans, Greeks, and Arabs, Monkshood was used in warfare, disposing of both wild animals and family and foes alike. While it can be dangerous to use, the correct dosage of its root and pure aconite can be used as a painkiller, to prevent infections and to widen the veins to treat coronary disease. It symbolizes that danger may be nearby and/or a foe may be lurking there waiting for you._

* * *

 _ **Three Months Later...**_

* * *

 **Location:** **Local Playground, Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: October 12, 20XX - Tuesday**

Sunlight poured through the narrow openings of the clouds as they drifted lazily in a calm relaxing shade of blue, their shadows shading the ground below. A concrete pathway stretched out to a children's playground filled with a sandpit, swings, slides, and a jungle gym with fresh, green shrubbery and numerous trees surrounding the place. Several birds flew through the branches of trees as their peaceful chirps and tweets made a symphony inside the park. There were a few empty wooden benches scattered around the area; one of them had a note that said 'Wet Paint' taped to it. It was early afternoon and while there should have been a myriad of squealing and laughing youngsters on the early summer day, there was surprisingly none at this moment.

And it was perfect at the time.

Standing at the entrance of the park, Himiko held a firm grip on her son's hand, a tired but happy expression on the mother's face as she saw Tet-chan's look grow excited at the sight of the playground. It was his first time. After their move almost two months ago, Himiko and Sora were very reluctant to let their little baby out just because they knew someone would hurt him in some way in some form. Neither of them wanted to see Tetsuya cry. But he couldn't always be cooped up inside the house. And while they had a small but nice sized backyard, it wasn't the same as the park.

So, Himiko scoped out the area for about two weeks while her husband was at his new job which was an offer to be an accountant for a moderately small business that was situated perfectly near the lab the doctor had suggested to them - the Research Center of Mutating Quirks or RCMQ. (It was a strange place with different children (and even a few adults) with all sorts of Quirks - there was a girl who could transform parts of her body into different animals, a black-haired boy who could control things with his mind, and someone who could even bring things back to life - but since visiting there the first time all those weeks ago it had changed something within Tetsuya.)

Sora was doing well enough but he worked long hours and got home late and it made Himiko worry as the bags under his eyes grew darker. He said to not worry about it, that everything would get better, to be there for their son, and to be the best mother she could be.

But she worried, nonetheless.

Himiko always worried and she tried her best to keep things under control, but it wasn't always so easy. The awakening of Tetsuya's Quirk amplified that worry so much more. She couldn't help it. It was natural when something like this happened. She only wanted to protect her baby boy with the best of her abilities. Tetsuya was just a sweetheart and he worked so hard to try and help when he could and they - from themselves to the scientists at the lab - were all working to help him. It was becoming manageable. Slowly but surely. Yet she couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong or something just so dark that wouldn't be contained for long growing inside him.

Like starvation.

Something that was slowly growing mad as it would never able to fulfill its hunger. And if the way that Tetsuya would sometimes cling to them more when they had good news or were telling a funny story or sharing a bright memory from long ago would make their moods descend rapidly, they ignored it. Or when they saw those gold eyes turn chilling and the feeling of loss, of sadness, of a weak will, of a bitter coldness that would take over and then Tetsuya wouldn't be as hungry as before... She didn't want to admit what that could mean.

It scared her.

This was all for Tetsuya's sake.

For their little boy.

Himiko let out a tired sigh, placing herself on one of the empty benches and watched her son play in the sandbox, giggling to himself as he built something before smashing it then tried to make something else. The sight brought a smile to the mother's face, happy to see the energy come back into her Tet-chan. He had become so withdrawn within the first week of his Quirk's awakening. He would shy away from other people, taking longer to open up than before, and had become clingy to herself and Sora. Seeing his bright smile again made her glad.

That had not stopped the wave of exhaustion from sweeping over her or stop her eyelids from closing involuntarily.

Maybe a small nap was in order...

Tet-chan wouldn't run away. She knew that. He'd stay put and if he wanted something then he'd come to her.

It couldn't hurt... Just for an hour. That's... it...

Himiko was snoring softly before she knew it.

Only for her eyes to snap open to a scream.

Shooting upward, she almost fell forward, stumbling in a daze momentarily before jerking to where Tet-chan was and saw a little brown-haired girl on the ground almost passed out, Tetsuya standing above her - an unsettling chill went down Himiko's spine when she saw her child's terrifying, apathetic gaze. Tear tracks were seen on the now pale girl's cheeks as her mother ran up to her, screaming and hissing at Tetsuya, "Megumi! What did you do to her?!"

It was a one eighty and Tetsuya snapped, shaking and stepping away; he began to tear up as he shook his head. Himiko wrapped him up in her arms, holding his head down to the crook of her neck and shoulder, backing away from the scene and the screaming woman. She couldn't do this! This shouldn't have happened! She could have prevented this! Nononononononononononono-

With bated breath, she vanished from their view, her Quirk activating and erasing her and Tet-chan's presences within seconds, ignoring the feeling of sharp nails pressed into her shoulders and back all the way home.

* * *

 **Location: Lab Room 242,** **Research Center of Mutating** **Quirks (RCMQ)** **,** **Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: November 19, 20XX - Friday**

The time at the Research Center of Mutating Quirks proved to be fruitful. In the short time the family of three had begun visiting, they had begun to run countless tests right away to help Tetsuya on reigning in his Quirk and figuring out to what extent each part his Quirk offered the boy. So far, there was progress on the fear aspect the most, using it for something similar to training exercises for Pro Heroes. They wanted to see how strong it was and how others reacted to different strengths. Tetsuya was never told the true purpose for that, just happy to meet all kinds of Heroes from ones that were new to some that had been on the field for a while.

Tetsuya really liked it when he got to test out the different parts of his Quirk, especially when he got to fly, or hover as the doctors called it! He got to be in this big room with all kinds of things scattered inside it. Like blocks and dummies and fake trees. It looked really cool! It was like a little city and he got to do what he wanted when it was his time. Others used it too. He had seen some of the damage some of the previous people caused.

It was awesome and really scary.

And while this was super fun, he didn't like it when he was away from mama and papa for too long. But mama and papa told him to listen to the doctors and to be on his best behavior and if he did good, he could get some ice cream when they got home...

He really wanted to be good. He wanted mama and papa to smile.

So, he'd listen to what the doctors said.

Tetsuya stared at the open plain area inside the big room he was always in, cameras from all angles pointed at him and a black tinted window that the doctors used to watch him from up high. His stomach hurt after puking up the dark stuff from inside him. It hurt less after each time he... changed into what the doctors called his 'Half-Form'... Whatever that meant... But he still didn't like it! The bright lights from above beamed down and it felt like they were heating him up. Tetsuya didn't like the heat.

He scratched his arm in discomfort, wrapping them around his body, minding the sharpness of his nails, and blew some bangs from his eyes.

A voice crackled over the speakers, asking him, _"Are you ready, Tetsuya-kun?"_

He nodded. "Yeah."

 _"Today we will be testing to see how your hovering has improved just like last week, and then we'll work on that blending effect we discovered recently, understand?"_

"Un!"

 _"Good. First will be the hovering. Begin when you are ready."_

For a few moments, Tetsuya stayed still before his feet slowly lifted off the ground a few inches. His form was wobbly and he had his arms stretched out to keep his balance, letting out a giggle at the weird sensation he always got when he was in the air. He wondered if he could fly someday! That would be super cool! He could be an airplane or even a birdy! After a few moments to steady himself, he smiled up at the tinted window above.

 _"Very good, Tetsuya-kun! How about moving forward a few feet?"_

"Okay!" Slowly but surely he moved forward, clothes and hair fluttering slightly as he hovered about three feet forward, letting out a tiny 'Weeeee' as he did.

 _"Good. Good. How about a bit more? Try turning around while you do that as well."_

Arms still outstretched, he bit his lip in concentration and did an unhurried twirl as he moved forward, the farthest he had ever gone. They continued on like this for another hour, moving in all sorts of ways - up, down, left, right, you name it. It reminded Tetsuya a lot like dancing. However, upon his feet hitting the ground silently, he let out a disappointed but tired groan. The cold was welling up inside him. He needed to eat something and soon. But he could handle it!

Patting his stomach, he looked up again, waiting for the doctor's voice. _"That was excellent, Tetsuya-kun! Much better than last time. Are you ready for the next test or would you like to rest and have something to eat before moving on?"_

Tetsuya shook his head. "I'm okay..." He could do this! He could last! He wanted to be good, after all! For his mama and papa!

Their voice held a warning tone, _"Tetsuya-kun..."_

Tetsuya looked down sheepishly and mumbled, "Can I have a snack, please?"

 _"Of course, Tetsuya-kun. We'll get you something right away. For now, head toward the town area of the room please."_

"Thank you," he said. Mama always told him to mind his manners. Why would he be... manner-ful to his mind? Mama was so weird sometimes!

After a male doctor with bright orange hair and black eyes brought him some apple slices, crackers, and juice, he was ready to move! Telling the doctors that, they told him they would begin on that blending thing they discovered he could do last time. He was to blend into different shaded areas and dark corners. He really couldn't or didn't know how this worked so there was little that could be done in the end.

* * *

 **Location: Livingroom,** **Kurosawa Household, Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 9, 20XX - Sunday**

The Kurosawa house was a small, but family-friendly sized, one-story house with a sizeable backyard with enough space for their child to play to his heart's content - perfect for the family of three. Shortly after moving in, Himiko had created a small garden in a section of the backyard, squaring it off to be filled with different colored flowers that reminded her of their original home and even some seasonal vegetables. It helped keep her busy and give her time to think or talk with her child about different things. Sometimes Tetsuya would help her plant but that was rare as he'd rather learn what the plants were. He had made a hobby out of it.

One of many that they had found out he liked to do, such as but not limited to cooking, sewing with Sora, and he had found a fondness for singing with Himiko. Theses hobbies actually helped with Tetsuya's Quirk, they found out, as they helped with his concentration and in a way stabilized his Quirk. Not always but it was a work in progress. It especially worked best when he was focusing on when it was nature related. Something they discovered he had a passion for. Tetsuya enjoyed it greatly when his mama would tell him facts or the language of the flowers she planted in her garden and when it was time, press them into a book.

Lilacs were his favorite.

It was supposed to mean 'magical' or something... During the Victorian Age, the giving of a Lilac was meant to be a reminder of an old love. In fact, widows were often seen wearing lilacs during this period. He learned a lot! Mama planted a lot of them for him and he made a lot of bookmarks out of the flowers, giving to the helpful doctors and assistants at the research center or they found their way into one of his scrapbooks already filled with different types of flowers.

They sat on either side of the kitchen table, a bunch of flowers laid out between the duo, and large, heavy books of different thicknesses were stacked on top of one another. Himiko smiled at the small boy, hair pinned back by cute cat-themed clips, and asked, "Now, Tet-chan, do you remember what we do first?"

Tetsuya nodded, grinning. "Yeah! You pick a flower!" He held up a Lilac (an obvious choice that made Himiko huff in amusement) high in the air while Himiko chose to do the same with a small baby pink apple blossom.

"Very good," she praised, spinning her chosen flower between her fingertips, "It's best to pick flowers that are either in bud or have opened, which is when the color is best. It's easier to choose flowers with flat faces such as this apple blossom, pansies, or even violets. Flowers like orchids, lilies, or peonies have a more three-dimensional shape which can be trickier to do. Understand?"

"Un!"

"Great! Now, usually people would use something called a flower press but when they don't have one, heavy books such as dictionaries, phone books, and encyclopedias are excellent choices for pressing flowers." She picked up one of the heavy books, setting it in front of Tetsuya before placing one in front of herself, opening it. Tetsuya mimicked her. "There is also the possibility to press a flower in the microwave as well."

"Microwave?" Tetsuya tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes, but it's more fun this way. Now, lay two pieces of paper within the open book before arranging the flower either artistically or just flat before placing some more paper on top of it. Two of these papers will be served as blotters."

"Okay!" Tetsuya nodded again, placing the Lilacs together in a cute design with some petals of different flowers around them, humming along with Himiko as they worked in a comfortable atmosphere. They made varying contrasts of designs in three of the eight heavy books and ended up with ten different designs before they began closing the books, being careful so the flower arrangements wouldn't get disturbed, and the paper stayed aligned within the books. After that, they began to pile more of the heavy books on top of the pressing book, storing them in a dry place inside the house.

"Good job, Tet-chan," she told him, ruffling his hair as he giggled. "We'll check in on them in a few weeks, and when the flowers completely dry out, then we can put them in your scrapbooks. Okay?"

"I'd really like that, mama."

"Me too, baby. Me too."

"Can you tell me more about what different flowers mean?"

"Of course!" They shared a smile, moving to sit on the back porch.

* * *

 _ **Few Months Later...**_

* * *

 **Location:** **Research Center of Mutating** **Quirks (RCMQ)** **,** **Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: April 2, 20XX - Saturday**

One of the few benefits Tetsuya thought best were the times he got to meet all sorts of Pro Heroes. A few came each month for the children and would play with them or tell them grand tales of saving people and beating up the bad guys. A few would even help them with their Quirks, offering tips and providing ideas that could be helpful to them in the future. Some even inspired the other children to be Heroes just like them. Tetsuya loved it when they came and played with everyone. It was nice to see the laughter it brought the other children.

It made the cold a little less cold and the hunger abide when he got close to the warmth they made.

He really liked it when Manual came. Manual was never afraid of him! The man even played with him from time to time! The others would always be wary of him and so he was mainly left to his own devices whenever they'd come over. That didn't mean he didn't hate it. It was okay. They didn't treat him like garbage or like he was a Villain.

They were just wary...

Even during the one time he met All Might (something he was so excited about and wanted to talk to him and ask him so many things and play with him like the other kids) he had made the Symbol of Peace give him a second look. It wasn't of disdain, hate, or anything like that but cautious, like he reminded the large, muscular man of something he didn't want to remember. It was laughed off. A fluke to the others.

But Tetsuya saw it.

He had become good at remembering and reading the small cues or twitches of the body his Quirk made others feel.

It was okay, though.

Tetsuya was used to it.

He liked sitting in his corner and watching everyone play, anyway. Mama and Papa would join him from time to time when they were not busy with the doctors discussing things ("It's adult stuff, Tet-chan. We'll tell you later." or "Don't worry about these types of things until you're older." or "It'll be explained later to you, Tetsuya.") and they'd always have fun. They'd read books or play with the offered toys in the room. Just like when they were called away now.

"We'll be right back, Tet-chan. The doctors have to talk about something with us," mama told him, smiling softly.

Papa grinned and ruffled his hair making him huff and groan. "Hey!"

"Be good and stay right here, Tetsuya. Okay?"

"Okay," he answered.

Getting two more smiles from both of them, they nodded to the Pro Hero that was there that day as they left the children's playroom, following after a purple scaled, lizard-like assistant with large pale green eyes and a long thin tail. He went back to his reading, looking over the picture book of flowers and other plants from all over the world. Glancing over the edge of the book, his bottom was stationed on a comfy, overly large cushion that threatened to swallow him. Sitting in the right corner of the room, he watched the other kids play with a big round Pro Hero, the man easily towering over the other adults in the room. (His Hero costume consisted of black pants and an orange zippered hood.)

Maki-chan was giggling and she jumped up and down as a sweet was given to her. Kurogami-kun held onto his arms along with Akashi-kun, holding on for dear life as they were lifted and tossed around. Lots of other kids were having fun too. Golden eyes glanced at the small treat sitting innocently on the low table to his right that he was given not long ago, matching the others he gave out to his fellow kids.

"..."

He didn't feel like playing today...

* * *

 **Location: Back Porch,** **Kurosawa Household** **,** **Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: June 16, 20XX - Thursday**

It was a week after Tetsuya's fifth birth (a small occasion for just the three of them and a vanilla cake with pale, baby blue icing and some grilled fish for dinner) who was currently wearing the cat-themed pajamas Himiko and Sora had gifted him. He sat between his parents on either side of him as the three sat on the back patio on a cool evening of summer, watching the sun slowly set below the horizon in a sky dyed pomegranate pink, firey red, and tangerine orange stretching far and wide as threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds. Silhouettes of birds flew home across the sky.

A battle cry to the gathering night, the sky slipped into a mix of navy and amethyst, mixing and melting away into obsidian as the biggest star had set, giving way to a thousand others.

The night deepened and random lights of fireflies blinked more frequently in a lazy fly across the backyard. Himiko hummed a sweet tune, watching the crescent moon cast brilliant rays of moonlight onto the dark grounds far away from their home. The soft buzzing of the fireflies created a melody mixing with the humming to make an elaborate symphonic tune and danced in a heady swarm of light. A giggle escaped from the now five-year-old child, one of the bugs landing on his nose before it flew off and rejoined the others as all three watched them fly and dance in their own way with one another.

Tetsuya opened mouth after a moment's breath, listening to his mama's hum and waiting for the right moment. " _*Then the boy fell asleep and one or two embers in the fading ashes of the fire flared up in the shape of a beloved face._ " He knew the words and remembered them easily after hearing them over and over. " _Dreaming many thousands of dreams spreading across the land._ "

Sora leaned back on his arms, closing his eyes and letting his body relax in the pleasant tune his family brought, head bobbing slowly from side to side. If there was one thing he was glad Tetsuya didn't inherit, it was his tone death vocal cords. Hime-chan could sing and he always loved hearing her voice. It's what attracted his attention to her in the first place over the small-time radio he had listened to in his youth.

Himiko stopped the humming, joining in with Tet-chan, singing serenely along with her child. "Your silver-gray eyes shine their light like stars falling down from the night sky. Even though countless of years turn so many prayers back to earth." She gripped his hand easily, trailing a thumb over his knuckles as a tiny shiver went down her spine, a slight chill dusting just under her skin along with a pulse of tiredness. Sharing a smile with her husband, the older woman began to stroke Tet-chan's fluffy white hair (how she missed the once familiar black...) with her other hand as he leaned into her touch.

The said boy scooted into his mama's side, familiar warmth radiating from her form. " _I will keep praying somehow, love for this child, please kissing the joined hands._ "

All for her child.

* * *

 _ **Five Months Later...**_

* * *

 **Location: Hallway of** **Research Center of Mutating** **Quirks (RCMQ)** **,** **Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: November 9, 20XX - W** **ednesday**

Shota Aizawa, known to the public as the Pro Hero Erasure Hero: Eraser Head, was a man who never really cared for material things (just take a look at his room), had a secret (rather obvious) obsession for cats, and often came off as cold, apathetic, and impatient to many, even to his... best (never let Hizashi hear that or he'd never let it down) friend. He also would rather be taking a nap in his ultra comfy limited edition yellow sleeping bag right now too.

Yet he couldn't. Why do you ask?

Well, he was currently being dragged by his said friend by the back of his shirt, quietly grumbling, arms crossed over his chest, and glaring at anything and everything that came into his line of sight, as they visited the Research Center of Mutating Quirks upon request once more. He wasn't overly fond of children or loud noises. He was fine with them and all that but... Don't laugh! There was a point being made here! It wasn't like they were the only ones there. Ectoplasm had come as well.

That was beside the point!

Why couldn't he just take his daily nap? Or be watching cat videos in his ultra comfy limited edition yellow sleeping bag?

Hell! He'd even take patrolling in the Eastern District again! He hated that area...

He heard Hizashi crackle, teasing him, "Stop grumbling, Shota-chan!" Switching the other man around, Shota followed reluctantly behind Hizashi the bastard, posture slouching and hands stuffed in his pockets showing that he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

He glared at the back of the blond man's head, hissing, "Don't call me that."

Hizashi waved it off, laughing from his gut. "Whatever."

"Shut it."

"Anyway!" Hizashi grinned over his shoulder, tone sing-song, "You owe me this, Shota. Don't forget what happened two Saturdays ago!"

"That was a one time thing and you know it!"

"Suuurrrrrrre. 'One time thing'," Present Mic quoted in the air. Aizawa glared harder, eyes narrowing to little slits. That stupid little yellow mustache he insisted on having would have burned by now.

"Put a sock in it, Hizashi."

The other chuckled again. "I'm already wearing socks so I can't put them anywhere."

Shota let out a long, tired sigh.

Why him?

He was already here so he might as well go through with it.

"Besides that point, I learned that a certain little _kitten_ ," Hizashi's smirk widened, "is here today. I'm sure he'll be very excited to see his favorite Hero!"

Ah yes... The little kitten.

"He's not a kitten."

"Not to you. Hehe."

Why did he put up with this again?

"Cuz you love me!"

Shota scowled. "No, I don't." And stop reading his expression!

"Don't scowl, it'll give you wrinkles. And you're an open book!" Hizashi crackled with a skip in his step as they finally arrived.

Black eyes lit up when a small bundle of joy shot up, grinning from the corner he had seen the child always stay in whenever they visited, calling out his name, "Sho-chan!" He whacked Hizashi's arm when the other snickered at the new nickname he gained when the little brat learned his first name, unable to pronounce it right. The other had yet to stop snickering whenever that nickname came up and when the blonde Pro Hero tried to call him that...

Well...

He never tried again after that.

Anyway, he grunted a hello to the small kitten and followed him when he grabbed his arm. The other children wouldn't come over; he knew that from the look in his eyes and the standoffish personality he'd usually put on, but Tetsuya kept coming back (he even began to warm up to the child (not that he'd admit it aloud)) and has yet to be put off by his glares or anything he tried. (He knew what the kid's Quirk was. He knew from the very start, having learned about it upon his first visit. It only lasted for a minute. Why should he be scared of something he could easily defeat? Fear was only as deep as the mind allowed it, after all.)

Tetsuya finished dragging the Pro Hero to the table he had been sitting at before and then held up a messy crayon picture he had just finished drawing. "Sho-chan! Sho-chan! Look what I drew for you! It's you, Hi-chan, and me all being Heroes. Do you like it?"

Aizawa tenderly picked up the picture and ruffled the kitten's white hair, patting it lightly as he looked at the... rather sloppy way his head was made with a raised eyebrow. (His nose wasn't that long... was it?) At least Hizashi looked like himself. Messy hair. Long neck. Overly large eyes that would fit better on a bug than a human.

Yep. Looked just like him.

He gave a small unseen smile down at the boy, muttering, "Good job, kitten."

Tetsuya grinned back.

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Kurosawa Household, Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: December 19, 20XX - Monday**

Tetsuya stared at the wall before him, curled up on his bed, with wide eyes. Something inside him made him hurt. The coldness crept up through his body and the temperature was dropping around him again. It was always there, and it never went away. He hated it. A never-ending dark void that consumed everything warm.

He knew it couldn't be sated.

 _WHY WAS IT SO COLD?_

He knew when he touched mama or papa when they were happy or cheerful about something, he gravitated towards them like a bear to honey and did something to them. He wasn't as hungry as before. He would become a bit happier and feel warmer even if just for a moment. He tried not to do it, but the cold always won out in the end.

The doctors said they'd help end it. _**Dangerdangerdangerdanger.**_

 _Safe._

Tetsuya wasn't sure if they could. It hurt and his fingers felt like they could fall off.

Something inside of him always told him to just open his mouth and eat. That it was okay. Survival of the fittest. They were the prey. It made him feel like he wanted to find something to hunt. It scared him. That voice was always there in the back of his mind and he wasn't dumb. He knew if he told them, they'd do something to him.

He knew it grew bigger by the year.

He was just so _cold and hungry, and it made him want to open his mouth and eat._

 _It's so cold... Hurts..._

He wanted to fill that missing thing inside of him and he needed to fill it up. He was so tired. Tetsuya felt so tired and hungry and _so cold_.

 _ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS-_

It felt like there was something sharp - like needles - piercing through his lungs and the world was too bright and his head would pound and everything would blur together when it became too much and too loud for him to handle. He wouldn't be able to fill it up or change back and the cold would burst from his chest and he was so hungry. Everything would distort into something more monstrous.

Where did one nightmare end and another begin?

* * *

 **Location: Taxi Heading Towards** **Research Center of Mutating Quirks (RCMQ), Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 31, 20XX - Tuesday**

They were worried about their baby boy. He had an accident involving his Quirk and some of the other children at the lab days before. They had been playing together, some of the children letting him play with them but it hadn't lasted. He had been unable to control himself around them - which was unusual as the boy had learned to control his Quirk quiet well over the last few years... - and ended up hurting one of the other children coincidentally. The lab wanted Tetsuya to stay there for a few days.

Himiko and Sora visited each day, checking in on their son for as long as they were able to until they had to leave without him. A safety precaution they said. They didn't want anything like this happening again and so they were going to figure out everything they could before he would be allowed to go back outside. Tetsuya was isolated from the others, even them. They hated seeing their son like this. It felt like he was just a test subject, a lab rat, and not a child to the doctors. Even they were extra cautious around the boy, wearing protective suits whenever they went inside the room made specifically for him.

That was a week ago.

The worried parents were ready to have their son home.

And that's when they finally received the notice that Tetsuya would be allowed back outside. On the Tuesday morning, they went on their way to the lab together after Sora got off work. It was decided by both that this was the best course. They would leave as a family.

Everything was okay.

Life was a cruel thing though.

As they rode in the taxi on the way to the research center, holding each other's hand, they made small talk with the driver, a funny man he was, and made a pleasant time on their way there. They were even hitting all the green lights. What luck! Yet... They were crossing a street when they heard a loud honk and the exploding roar of an engine heading fast towards them.

It all happened in the span of a second. It was all to fast.

The car rolled over upon impact, lights swirled in a dizzying array, and the noise of metal being bashed over the concrete was almost deafening. The world passed in a blur of red and white lights. The driver's body jerked to the dashboard, his forehead colliding with the window, breaking it into smithereens. The car tumbled over and over before coming to an absolute stop. Steam rose from the back, the smell too intense.

Blue eyes cracked open, eyelids fluttering, as she became fleetingly aware of the coppery taste in her mouth, razing her teeth and soaking her tongue. There was a buzzing noise filling her ears. Black spots danced in front of her vision, blocking out the sights before her, making her head feel like the only thing inside of it was static. Her lungs contracted and she found it hard to even take a breath. She couldn't move...

Agony. It was all there was.

Then she was warm... Sora...

Everything kept flashing from bitter darkness to blinding white light. Her world crumbled.

"Tet...chan..."

When everything stopped there was only the sound of the rain on the underbelly of the car as Himiko Kurosawa took her last breath, cradled in her dead husband's arms, her last thoughts of her son's bright smile and hearing him sing their lullaby.

* * *

 _The world's a dangerous place. Beware._

* * *

 _*_ _Song: 14th's Lullaby from D Gray-Man._

 **Author's Note: I know the chapter was supposed to come out last week but things came up and life got in the way as well as some family visited last weekend for a few days. I wasn't allowed on the computer when they were there so that was nice. At least I had a good time and we all went to SeaWorld as well. It was really fun and I got to take lots of really cool pictures and eat some really good (i.e. overpriced) food by some sharks and large fish. He he.**

 **That is why it's also longer than usual. ^^ So be happy and rejoice or cry or something. I know this chapter has packed a lot and it's been a more or less three year in one chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, though. Tell me what you think of it in a review before you head out too!**

 **Lookie! Lookie! I made a character card of Tetsuya! _(Just take out the spaces and the links should work.)_**

 **Link:** **www._deviantart.** **_** **com/** **_** **nightmarezanez/** **_** **art/** **_** **Tetsuya-Kurosawa-Character-Card-784084910**

 **Happy Late Valentine's Day too!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 16, Favs: 12, Reviews: 8, Communities: 6, Views: 367**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **Prince- Trust me. I know what it's like to be one-track-minded... -_- There are a bunch of things that I don't notice until it's either pointed out to me or it suddenly dawns on me like weeks later. Lol. Yeah... While Haru did her best, she's too far off the deep end due to Stain's influence over her for like... over a decade... Haru is very cray cary but Hisoka still loves her~. Tetsuya as a flying squirrel... Hmmmm... I think I know what Imma dress him up as for Halloween this year... I knew you'd like Dadzawa's appearance. ^^ (I did check on what you said about the 'Manual is his favorite hero' but Tetsuya never said that. He said that he liked Manual very much and it's been pointed out that Aizawa is his favorite by Hizashi.) Yup. They're gone now but not forgotten. There will be much more sadness. And angst. And lots of depressing things... But it'll get better. It always does. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Vedahzii- Yeah... That way was never even going to happen. Tetsuya does not have that particular ability. I had thought he could but decided against in the end. I didn't feel like it'd fit in the overall design of things. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **White Chrysanthemum**

* * *

 ** _White Chrysanthemum (Asteraceae):_** _Chrysanthemums, knowns as 'mums' or 'chrysanths', are herbaceous perennial plants or subshrubs that come in a wide range of colors from basic to peach to bright red. It is an array of several flower heads, or sometimes a solitary head. They are native to Asia and Northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center of diversity is in China back in the 15th century BC as a flowering herb. There are several uses for this particular flower - such as it's used in wedding, birthdays, and anniversaries bouquets. The while and yellow Chrysanthemum can be made into sweet drinks in Asia, for medical teas, and even in wine. It symbolizes, truth, death, and grief and the most common flower for funerals._

* * *

 **Location: Private Room 7, Research Center of Mutating Quirks (RCMQ), Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 31, 20XX - Tuesday**

Tetsuya giggled as he swatted at the hand that poked his nose. "Stop that!" Hi-chan was really goofy sometimes. He was like a kid! Though Sho-chan called him a man-child at the time. When he asked what that meant, Sho-chan said to not worry about it. Why did he not have to worry about it? And why did Hi-chan look sad when he called him a man-child when Sho-chan told him that?

"Stop what?" Hi-chan grinned, crocking his head as he sat in the small chair at the low table perfect for Tetsuya's small size. Sho-chan was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room seemingly asleep in his yellow sleeping bag. Tetsuya glanced over his shoulder at the said man who was one of his sort-of babysitters for the day until mama and papa came back that evening.

They were late though. Not that Hi-chan or Sho-chan minded or so they said. They were having fun. Tetsuya hoped he wasn't bothering them. When they had learned that mama and papa weren't there, yet they had decided to stay and spend time with him after their time with playing with the other children. (He ignored the way Hi-chan had stiffened when he gripped his arm, taking away some his warmth, or the way Sho-chan would offer his arm from time to time and sit with him in the corner away from the other kids whenever they were there.

Tetsuya didn't mean to do it. He tried to control it. He knew he wasn't always the best. Though the other kids had gotten used to his presence, he could see in his eyes that they were still wary of him. He was used to it.

(As long as they were safe, even from him, then he was all the happier.))

But mama and papa were never really this late before! It was almost time for dinner. They were supposed to be here early afternoon...

"Poking my nose, you man-child!" He stuck his tongue out at Hi-chan, grinning when Sho-chan snorted from his corner. Sho-chan was always a light sleeper.

Hi-chan's shoulders slumped before he leaned back dramatically, hand thrown over his forehead while the other clenched his black jacket where his heart was supposed to be. "My heart! I cannot go on, my fair boy. Please! Delete the history of my computer!" One of his legs were even pointed up in the air.

Why?

Tetsuya frowned, face scrunching up adorably. "Why do I have to delete your computer history?"

"Hizashi. Shut up and stop being a drama queen; you're confusing the kitten," Sho-chan grunted, eyes boring into the now pouting blonde-haired man.

"Boooo," Hi-chan puffed his cheeks, arms lowering to his side before they crossed over his chest, looking away from either of them. "Always spoiling my fun..."

"Hi-chan!" Tetsuya exclaimed, tilting his head as he stared wide-eyed at him, "Did you do something naughty?" He turned towards Sho-chan. If anyone knew, it'd be Sho-chan. Sho-chan knew everything!

"Hey!" Hizashi shot up not-so-gracefully, stumbling a bit as he regained his balance. "Why're you looking at Shota?! I didn't do anything, really!"

Yellow-gold eyes glanced at Hizashi before looking back at the black-haired Pro Hero with a questioning gaze. Shota glanced between the two of them. "Well..."

"Shota!"

Tetsuya's eyes grew wider. "Sho-chan?"

"You see..."

Before Hizashi could stop the other male from anything or for anything to really happen, a knock silenced them all. Seconds later, one of the doctors that'd usually looked over Tetsuya (a nice, older lady with bright pink hair and forest green eyes and always wore these black gloves on her hands. She always gave him a lollypop whenever he was a good boy.) whenever he was here came inside. She wore the standard white lab coat, buttoned up over the outfit she had under it and had a worried frown on her usual gentle smiling expression.

Sho-chan immediately stood up, his sleeping bag pooling around his feet, and Hi-chan gave her a questioning look when she asked if she could speak to the two of them alone. They each gave a nod after sharing a glance with one another. Sho-chan stepped over his sleeping bag, patting him on the head lightly, as he spoke softly, "Stay here, kitten. We'll be right back."

"We'll be back in a jiffy!" Hi-chan grinned at him, following Sho-chan and the nice lady outside.

"Okay..." Tetsuya said, frowning at the dread feeling he got, before he sat back down at the table, grabbing one of the colorful pieces of paper and began to fold it into a crane just like his papa taught him. He was gonna make a lot of them to give to his special people! He broke out in a bright smile, humming lightly, as his legs kicked in the air under the table. After what seemed like forever and two origami cranes done, his stomach grumbled and nature called.

He glanced around, biting his lip, unsure what to do. Sho-chan told him to stay. But he really had to go! He was almost six! He was a big boy now! He could go to the bathroom by himself! If Sho-chan got back before him then he'd tell him but if not...

Well, what Sho-chan didn't know wouldn't hurt him. (Oh! And Hi-chan! Couldn't forget about Hi-chan too! How could he _even possibly forget_ about Hi-chan?!)

Standing up, he peeked his head out the door catching furious whispers from not far away, but no one was around. Sho-chan and Hi-chan must be close then. He'd have to hurry! It wasn't hard to find the bathroom. That made Tetsuya happy. It was just a few doors down, following the signs and arrows posted on the walls, and did his business in a timely manner, making sure to wash his hands just like mama taught him (Hygiene's very important, after all!), before making his way back to the room.

And yet his curiosity got the better of him when he heard Sho-chan's voice echo in the empty hallway, stopping in front of the room he had been given to stay in the last few days. " ** _How?_** " Tetsuya wasn't sure how he was able to hear so clearly but Sho-chan's voice was a siren's song, leading him down the hall and then turning right, coming upon another private room. Glancing around, he didn't see anyone or hear anything except the conversation before him, only a door separating him from seeing everything.

"A car crash..." The nice lady sighed. "There were no survivors. The results from the reports said they all died upon impact."

Died?

Who died?

Hi-chan's voice was quiet and it unnerved him. "What will happen now then? To Tetsuya?"

What?

Did something happen to him while he was here and was never told?! Mama and papa should be here if they were all going to talk about him...

"I'm sorry but we don't know yet... We will have to mention something to the poor child."

There was a ringing in his ears. "..." He didn't like it.

"I see..."

"We-"

" _I_ will take care of it," Sho-chan said, his voice growing distant as something inside grew - no, something that had always been there. Under lock and key. Tetsuya stepped back silently, a hand covering his mouth as he felt something come up. Something black was slowly beginning to drip through the cracks of his mouth and fingers, trailing down his arm slowly.

What was happening?

The cold...

 _ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS-_

He never liked the cold... (It felt comforting right now for some reason though like whenever mama or papa would hug him. It was soothing... Protective. Tender. Assuring him that everything would be okay. Warm. It made him want to scream and cry to the world.)

Mama... He didn't feel so well... **_Dangerdangerdangerdanger._**

He ran.

* * *

 **Location: Large Children's Playroom, Research Center of Mutating Quirks (RCMQ), Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 31, 20XX - Tuesday**

Tetsuya felt so tired and hungry and cold... His stomach grumbled as more black liquid dribbled past his lips, bits of it falling to the floor and clinging to his skin. He tried to keep it in, but it felt like he'd choke if he continued this, stumbling blindly around the area as he got away. He didn't want to think of anything. He didn't want to know...

Know what?

No...

"Hey! Look! It's Tetsuya!"

 _It's so cold... Hungry..._

Golden eyes snapped up, grey hair falling over and covering them as he stared widely at the children staring right back at him. There were three of them - three that were always around - Maki-chan with worried bright blue eyes, Akashi-kun with fiery red hair and just as hot a temper as his Quirk was the oldest at ten-years-old, and Kurogami-kun with dragonfly wings, buzzing lightly a few feet in the air. He never really got along with any of the kids, but he did play with them when he could... (Survival of the fittest. They were the prey.)

How'd he get here?

Maki-chan stood up from playing with her blocks, the youngest of the trio. "Tetsuya-kun? What's wrong?" She steadily neared him.

Tetsuya felt numb - a cold feeling was slowly and completely taking over once more - a freezing feeling, unable to get away. It was savage, bitter blasts that gripped him in its freezing claws. It hurt...

He had to get away. _(Prey... COuld fiLL...)_

Akashi-kun exploded at him, glaring as bright red and orange spots _(DANGEROUS! **ENEMY!** )_ appeared over various parts of his body, "Oi! Answer Maki-chan when she talks to you!"

A small gagging noise was heard from him as he lurched forward onto his hands and knees; nausea clawed at his throat, and he tried to force down the bile, but it was too late. He couldn't breathe. There was a feeling of sharp needles piercing through his lungs, and the world became too bright and a little too loud.

No...

 _Yesssss..._

He heaved again and once more the carpet was sprayed. His stomach kept on contracting violently and forcing everything up and out, covering everything around him. A single yellow-gold eye cracked open only to see the forms of the other kids distort into something monstrous, his vision growing bleak and grey.

"Oi! What's wrong with you?!"

 _Why was everyone so warm while he so cold?_

"Eeeeewwwww! Sick!"

Pain seared through his abdomen better than a hot, burning branding iron, his mind slowly conceding to the torment that every move brought, unable to bring anymore thoughts to completion. It was all replaced by a white buzz. Without meaning to he fell to his side and curled into something fetal, something primeval and all the while the pain burned icy cold and radiated. His mind screamed, letting out a screech as his body convulsed on the floor as pain drove through his back. The last thing he heard were screams around him as his mind finally gave into the welcoming, inviting cold as his form flickered for a moment before his growing body exploded into a miasma of darkness.

* * *

 **Location: Private Room 7, Research Center of Mutating Quirks (RCMQ), Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 31, 20XX - Tuesday**

Aizawa didn't say a thing, his teeth clenched was the only thing stopping him from punching something, knuckles white from the tightness of his hold. He shouldn't let his emotions sway him like this. He had seen death plenty of times. He had heard the screams, the final breaths, the denial, the hate, and the smiles... He had to deliver his fair share of news to the living. It came with the job. It came from simply living. It would be the end of them all one way or another when their time came.

It wasn't fair.

Life was cruel like that.

It happened.

People moved on.

That didn't stop him from feeling the pain though.

He took a deep breath, glad that Hizashi did not see him like this, having gone up ahead to check on the little kitten (how was he to tell Tetsuya that his father and mother died?). He hated when others saw him this way. He could not allow the child to see him like this. While some may not see it, he knew the child was smarter than he looked. Sometimes too smart. The kitten may not understand it most of the time, but he tended to know things or understand them more easily than a child should. Shota was proud of the child when he caught on to whatever Aizawa would teach him.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shoulders slumping as he hunched his back over, hair falling in front of his eyes. He began to plot and go through various scenarios on how Tetsuya could react to the news in rapid session.

But now...

"Shota. Shota!" Black eyes snapped up to his blond-haired friend running to him, panting with a worried look in his eyes.

Shota frowned, straightening. "What?"

"It's... It's..." He panted, looking winded as he tried to catch his breath, strands of blond hair sticking up in random places. It looked like he ran a 20k marathon. Taking a deep breath, he exclaimed, "It's Tetsuya! He's-"

There were children's screams of fright nearby that jolted them into action, causing Shota to race down the hallway, Hizashi right behind him, as an unholy screech and growl was heard not even a second later.

 ** _BOOM! SMASH! SHATTER!_**

They ran faster.

* * *

 **Location: Large Children's Playroom, Research Center of Mutating Quirks (RCMQ), Northern Ōme Ward, Western Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: January 31, 20XX - Tuesday**

Red eyes widened at the scene before them as they skirted to a stop at a large room, black eyes copying the move as they saw the large doors hanging on by the few threads of their hinges and groaned with pain at every sway. The room was destroyed, bits of broken toys scattered about in the room. The once large window that would allow others to peek into the room via the hallway was shattered with fragments sharp enough to cut on contact all across the floor. The carpet was shredded, and the tile floor and concrete walls had cracks weaving a spider web all around. Some places were scorched from flames while others seemed like to have been melted by some acid.

An adult was on the floor, groaning as he clutched his side, blood seeping from the claw-like wound. Another was knocked out, back against the wall as she laid limp, blood pouring down from her forehead and lab coat was torn in half. Two children huddled in one of the corners, clutching onto one another like a lifeline as they stared wide-eyed and shaking with fright at the large... thing crouching on hind legs a few feet away from them. Grey clawed spidery hands gently held into a third child with fiery red hair, eyes glazed and tear steaks going down his cheeks. The ghostly-like humanoid shape had a decayed look to it, large and hunched over with dark ashen skin and long, wild white hair that looked like it was drenched in water. Its head was partly covered by torn clothing, like a hood, bits and pieces making it hard to see their face as it was turned away from the two Pro Heroes.

As Shota steadily crept forward, Hizashi working as the backup, he could smell an odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption, coming off the being. Letting out a low breath, sucking in something from whatever it took from the child, it raised back its head. It sounded like the rattling of chains and water combined.

It hurt Shota's ears.

For a second, the thought of Tetsuya crossed his mind, wondering where the missing boy was and could only be glad that he wasn't near this monster. The air was a brittle cold and he could feel his skin begin to cover in goosebumps as his heart beat against his chest quickly. He pulled up gold goggles over his eyes that he'd usually wore around his neck, hidden by his scarf. (He dared not say he was scared. Never. Unacceptable. He couldn't allow it to cloud his mind. Even if nearing this... thing made it harder and harder to do just that. At least Tetsuya wasn't there.)

He took another step forward as the being shifted, setting down the red-haired child with a soft thump on the ruined floor, uninterested in him, as it turned its focus on the other two children. Lowering itself to the floor, it inched itself forward when Shota's capture weapon unwinded itself from around his neck before he struck with it, hoping to wrap around the being to pull it back. The being flickered, becoming transparent as it let out an annoyed clicking noise as multiple white scarves went right around its chest.

Aizawa pulled back quickly, putting space between the two as it slowly turned its head to the two Pro Heroes, hood covering the upper part of its face as a static tear-like mouth opened with a growl. Shota caught a glimpse of closed eyes behind long white bangs on its face before it lowered, hands against the ground, and narrowed his own black ones.

Nose twitching, it titled its head before taking a step forward in their direction and Aizawa was on it once more, coming in close to try and capture the monster. It kept on becoming intangible practically every time, annoying the black-haired man greatly. Scowling, he jumped out of the way when Hizashi let out a screech directly at the being, trying to be careful of the children. They were unable to get to them because the monster was in the way. The high pitch looked like it hurt the monster, immobilizing it for a moment.

Aizawa went forward, trying to ignore the ringing Hizashi's Quirk caused within his mind. It felt like his brain was knocking against the back of his skull. Getting close enough, he spun on the heel of his foot, raising his other leg and landed a kick to its side. The monster let out a grunt before growling (it sounded like chains clinking heavily against one another, rattling, and underwater) only to be finally wrapped within the Erasure Hero's binding scarves. Before it could become intangible to free itself, Aizawa swung at it with all of his strength - the creature being lighter then it looked - and slammed into the wall.

"Get the kids, Hizashi," Shota ordered. "I'll keep it distracted."

Hizashi nodded, letting out another high-pitched shot, this time one that was very hard for humans to hear, at the monster, making it screech as the blonde Pro Hero steadily and warily made his way to the shaking children who were closer. The creature groaned like a wounded animal, the improvised hood flying off it to allow others to see the face, as it slid to the ground. Shaking itself from the bindings quickly and easily, flickering once to let the rest of them fall to the ground, it grabbed them and pulled a shocked Aizawa forward before locking its hands around his body, trapping him into an almost painful grip.

Before he could wiggle out, gaping tears that acted as its mouth let out numbingly cold air into his face. He froze. He couldn't move. Eyes opened just ever so slightly, revealing a hint of milky white/light-yellow coloring, causing him to stiffen mentally.

They were...

No...

One of its grey clawed hands traced his goggles, the other easily holding him in place, pinching at the edge of them with the tips of its... his... claws and lifted them off of his face before wrapping around his neck, bringing him steadily closer, as the ghastly face tilted his head from side to side as if trying to recognize who Eraser Head was. He had hoped that was it but then the creature's mouth opened, breathed in, and he felt something slowly suck the... warmth... from within him as it grew closer to him. Shota's life flashed before his eyes as his memories suddenly came to mind. He was helpless as his vision started to black out, and all he could...

He felt weak...

No...

"Tet..." He tried to say, barely even a whisper, when he suddenly saw a red-orange stream of fire aimed at the creatu... Tetsuya, or what was supposed to be Tetsuya had let out a shriek and quickly retreated to the corner, clenching his shoulder as he dropped Shota to the floor. He laid there limply, trying to regain his breathing and allow his vision to clear up. It felt like forever before he was able to stand before the creature huddle in the corner.

The fire...

It left a large scar on its shoulder, covering its upper back.

Before he could recover anymore, Shota moved forward, ignoring Hizashi's warning call and the frantic screams of the children and the ringing shouts from the other gathering adults that had come too late to help. Shota struck, slamming into the creature with a mental apology and forcing the eyes to open before activating his Quirk. They pulsed and the creature stilled suddenly but slowly shifting his form, quickly shrinking.

Shota lowered himself to his knees as the body grew smaller and smaller, easily fitting in his arms then. He flinched, hating the sound of breaking bone and the little kitten's scream of agony that slowly grew more human as Tetsuya changed back, his sweaty and naked form laying limply within Shota's arms.

"Sho... chan..." Dazed, teary gold eyes broke his heart as barely a mumble escaped passed Tetsuya's chapped lips, head lulling to the side as he passed out.

Oh, Tetsuya... He held the boy close to him as the medical staff swarmed into the room. "I'm sorry..." he whispered to the boy.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Geeze… Why do I keep on ending on the sad notes? Am I just a mean person or something?**

 **Eh…**

 **Don't worry everything will get better soon. ^^**

 **Maybe.**

 **Anyway, Spring Break has officially begun (and it's like in the middle of it during the posting of this chapter lol) and my car is blown (it's hissing like a little kitten and it's weirdly adorable (don't worry I know what's wrong with it ^^)) so going anywhere is off the list basically until I can have my brother check out the car... Which will hopefully be soon! And I get to go to Universal Studio as well! Isn't that so cool?**

 **And! If anyone's willing to try and draw Tetsuya's Full-From then I'd be both thankful for the try and grateful for trying as I kinda made the description and how he looked rather... specific (in a way). So, give a try. It could be a very good challenge for someone who'd like to try! (I'm only suggesting as I'm not really good at drawing creatures - dogs/cats/most domestic animals are different. They're easier... Sort of...) Anyway! Give it a try!**

 **I'll talk with you later then. Good night (or morning~ or at whatever time you are at when you read this. Lol.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 28, Favs: 17, Reviews: 10, Communities: 6, Views: 871**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta:** **Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **Guest- Yeah but that happens. ^^ No need to _rip_ yourself up. :P Hehehehe. Yes, I suck big time. Lol. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Vedahzii- D'aaaawwwwww~! You know me so well! Don't worry. There will be no emo edge lord for Tetsuya's future. He's too much of a cinnamon roll to be one! Ah... You think this is berserker mode? No. No. No. This is just a glimpse of what the Full Form is capable of it. Remember. Tetsuya is only six. Not full grown (neither is the Full Form) and it's based off of a Wraith, Wendigo, and Dementor rolled all into one! This, my man, is only the beginning. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Sky Blue Forget-Me-Nots**

* * *

 ** _Sky Blue Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis Sylvatica):_** _A short-lived, petite flower in the Boraginaceae family is widely cultivated throughout the world. It is native to Europe, particularly in England, Wales and the Isle of Man, although less frequent further north. Its favored habitat includes but is not limited to stream banks and springs. There are many legend and history about Forget-Me-Nots. In one legend about the flower speaks of a knight and his lady. In this particular legend, they were walking down the riverbed when he stopped to pick her some flowers. However, when he does pick them, his armor is too heavy and had drowned. As he did, he had tossed his lady the flowers and told her to "forget him not." It symbolizes memories and remembrance to convey a message for deceased loved ones and that they'll always remain and live on in your memories._

* * *

 **Location: Hachiōji Funeral Hall, Northern Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 18, 20XX - Saturday**

Why did it rain during a funeral?

It wasn't a heavy rain during a thunderstorm or a quick drizzle during a sudden rain. It was a constant pitter-patter against the pavement just outside the funeral hall. The sound could have been comforting if one, to say, could sit next to a window with a book in hand. A beat against the glass would relax the soul and provide nourishment to the green around them. Yet, it was not.

Was it supposed to be symbolic? To show that the soul ascended to somewhere better? To show a brief moment of grief from some otherworldly being? To show-

To Tetsuya's simple and young mind, it was an ending to something he'd never get back. To something, he didn't quite understand just yet. But he knew the two people in the picture that sat on the mantle surrounded by white carnations were people who he'd never see again. He was dressed in black, gripping onto the pale hand of his new guardian, Sho-chan, as he sniffled and tried to hold it in. Mama and Papa would want him to smile! Not be sad!

It was an unsuccessful attempt.

The emptiness inside him was raw, would be for a while, nibbling at his insides like a hungry rat. Different from the hunger he had always felt. There was a constant red rim in his eyes, to those who were able to glimpse at them when his hair didn't hide them away, something he had begun to do since that day.

To Shota's complex mind, the rain was a constant in his life, following him like a shadow wherever he went. He had seen much in his short life and has lived through it just as much - starting when he had just entered U.A. (He'd never be able to forget his mother's soft smile as she cooked in the kitchen or his father's stern but kind eyes behind half-moon glasses and a newspaper as he asked how his day was. An older couple who had him late in their lifetime. He was only glad they had gone silently during the night. Hizashi had been there ever since.) Life was something cruel, but death was another part of the cycle.

His hand was chilled (numb), holding the tiny hand of his charge - What had he been thinking then when he had exclaimed that he would take care of the child? Freshly wounded. Broken. Silent. Empty. Shota may be mature for his age and could take care of himself (he had since their deaths), but he was still young and immature in many ways. He didn't know how to take care of the kitten. Yet he had said he would. - as he watched passively at the picture of the kitten's parents stationed before them. Tetsuya tried to stay silent, but the tears kept on coming, snot falling from his nose as he sniffled.

Kneeling, he pulled the child close to him just like all those months ago and wrapped his arms around Tetsuya, picking him up. The child cried into the crook of his neck and shoulder, wetting his shirt as tiny hands wrapped around his neck and gripped his capturing scarves like he would vanish if the kitten didn't. He pressed a hand against the white hair, fingers splayed out as he glanced at the dull purple choker - collar by any other name - around the child's neck.

It was put on him upon waking up in the hospital after the... accident. It monitored his health twenty-four-seven, sending the information to Shota who checked his phone periodically. It could also knock Tetsuya out in case he went... out of control. If it really worked... Well, Shota honestly didn't want to find out. Hizashi thought it was a bit overkill, but Shota disagreed. Paranoid as he was, he just wanted his kitten to be safe. Though he would not admit it, the kitten had become his and he cared greatly for him.

He'd do what he could for Tetsuya.

Tetsuya had been practically on autopilot since he had woken up months before. It was unnatural, though understandable, for the once cheerful child to be like that. Shota didn't like it.

He was only glad he had Hizashi to help him out.

A few other Pro Heroes who had formed a friendly bond with Tetsuya and his family had come to pay their respects and offered their support to the two, the child falling asleep in Shota's arms exhausted - they all were - from today's events. He would be out for the next few hours. It was enough time to get back to his apartment and put him down for a nap. There was still a lot of things they had to go through, papers to sign, and many other things in the next few weeks.

Sigh...

(He really wanted to nap. He just knew his special limited edition sleeping bag was calling to him.)

Dismal, black eyes looked at their picture one more time and bowed his head to them, wishing them all the peace and rest in their next life. Once they were cremated, he would give Tetsuya a choice to see what he wanted to do with them. Holding said boy just a little bit tighter, he muttered to them, promising, "Do not worry, I will protect and raise Tetsuya to the best of my abilities."

Please, watch over them.

Shota would care for Tetsuya as if he was his own.

A comforting hand rested on Shota's shoulder, side glancing at the blonde-haired Pro Hero, who nodded to him. "You're not alone." Giving the black-haired Pro Hero a thumbs up, he said, "I'll help you no matter what!"

Shota nodded back and was truly glad to have Hizashi there.

* * *

 **Location: Shota's Apartment, Third Floor of Go Apartments, Northern Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: May 17, 20XX - Thursday**

Shota was glad that they had finished going through everything within the now-for-sale Kurosawa residence. Most of the stuff such as the furniture from the living room, the kitchen, and bedrooms, would be given away, donated, or had been sold off already. Food had been gone through and was either thrown out or mostly donated to the local orphanage and charities. The same with some toys that the kitten didn't play with anymore. Anything else was boxed up and put off to the side. Though his apartment was on the smaller side, he didn't have much stuff so there was enough room to put the boxes - mostly of momentous of his parents that Tetsuya didn't want to give up, picture frames and albums, extra toys, books, and supplies they hadn't given away, etc. off to the side.

Whatever money was made in the moving process, whatever would be made when the house was sold, and the small inheritance Tetsuya had gained would be put into a savings account for the kitten to use when he was old enough to handle that responsibility and not abuse it. Not that he would.

Shota would make sure of that.

But that wasn't what worried the Pro Hero at the moment. What did was how withdrawn the kitten was. He had tried a lot of things to try and get the child out of this... funk? At least for a little bit and there was progress but not much. It was understandable but he missed that smile - something rare in these past few months. The kitten had either stayed curled up on the bed in Shota's room or was near the small simple butsudan altar they had set up in the living room having the ashes and photographs of the deceased parents of both boys. A flower vase filled with Red spider lilies and white Carnations sat between the two sets of pictures. The small jars that held the ashes were placed in the draw below the opening to be kept safe. An incense was lighted often in respect, sitting in front of the flowers and pictures.

He had yet to decide if he'd sign Tetsuya up for public school or not, but with how things were, it was likely that the child would be homeschooled for at least another few years and enter him in the local junior high school when he was old enough. It was likely that would happen but for now, he was in no hurry, wanting the kitten to get better first. Homeschooling the child was a simple task whenever he was there. When he wasn't, one of his friends would keep an eye on the child mostly Hizashi, usually working on Tetsuya's English or trying to get him to sing again, and Masaki, who'd teach different things each time he watched him, whenever they were able to. (Emi wouldn't find out about kitten until much later on.)

But when he or they couldn't watch over the kitten then Shota was worried to leave him alone, constantly checking on the health and cameras he had installed around his apartment when he had decided to keep the kitten. He wouldn't check when he was on the job... Mostly... (Kami-sama, he was becoming such a mother hen...)

Still.

The Pro Hero had gotten used to the constant chill that had settled in his home. It was rather nice after getting around the fact that Tetsuya's Quirk practically sucked out one's warmth (joy, happiness, positivity... anything that would negate the cold within that tiny body), and Shota offered it whenever the kitten needed it. He tried his best. It was easy. He wasn't the most... joyful person... That was Hizashi. He was logical. Apathetic. Sarcastic. Rigid. Lazy. Impatient. Cold.

Not. Warm.

But he would keep Tetsuya safe no matter what. He'd take care of the child even if he didn't know what to do more than half of the time . He wasn't good at coming up with bedtime stories or really teaching the necessary things (if only he knew where his future would take him) for people to become functioning adults or singing (the tone deafness came from his father. It supposedly ran in the family.) Sure, he knew how to take down a Villain and be a Pro Hero but...

Kami-sama, Shota just wanted to sleep right now. He was so tired. He had been taking extra shifts and routes while his charge was asleep trying to gain more income for the future. Not that he spent a lot, not one for material attachments, but with Tetsuya there, you never know what could happen. (That's what scared him the most.)

Putting on his capturing scarves, he checked his phone for some messages, spotting where his next patrol, taking over for another Pro Hero who had been on leave to visit their sick mother in the states, was going to be not too far away. Good. It'd only take him a few hours at most if he didn't have to fight any Villains or arrest anyone. He'd be able to get back before the sun rose if he timed it right; before kitten would wake up. Glancing at said boy sleeping silently on his bed, blankets curled all around him as he hugged his cat plush tightly to his chest.

Shota made sure he was tucked in before checking his phone one more time to make sure the details were correct. Seeing that they were, he walked out his bedroom door silently, a skill he had mastered over the years, making sure to not wake the kitten up. Moving towards the front door, he froze when he heard a shaky voice behind him, "Sho-chan... A-Are you... g-going away?"

Turning his head to face the six-year-old, black eyes saw he was trembling, holding a paw of his plushie tightly.

"Tet-"

"Do-don't go! Please!" Tetsuya raced towards him, letting go of the stuffed animal as it hit the ground with a soft _thump_ , gripping onto the lower part of his shirt in a desperate attempt. "I'll be good! I-I promise! Do-don't leave me, Sho-chan! I'm... scared..." He cried, tears racing down his cheeks. White bangs parted away to show watery, frightened gold eyes.

Shota placed his hands on his shoulders. "Kitten... I-"

Tetsuya burrowed his head into his stomach, voice muffled between that and his horse voice from both the crying and lack of use. "Pl-Please! I don't want to l-lose you too! I'm scared if I-I close my eyes and open them a-again that you won't c-come back like Ma-mama and Pa-papa!"

The adult kneeled, looking the child in the eyes, and held him at arm's length. "Tetsuya, it will be okay."

The kitten shook his head in denial. "...I'll be a-all... alone..."

He pulled the child close to him, a hand cradling his head to his shoulder. How long had he been feeling this? "I will never leave you. I will protect you no matter what. I will be here for as long as you want me by your side. As long as I am here, you will not have to worry again."

"Sh-sho...chan..." Tetsuya muttered, tired. "Pro-promise?"

"I promise," Shota swore, standing up and picking the child up with him. Tetsuya wrapped his arms around Shota's neck when he stood, sniffling.

"Promise pro-promise?"

"Promise promise," he repeated, setting the child on the bed and grabbing his stuffed animal, handing it over and pulled the blanket over him. "Get some sleep, I will be here when you wake up."

"...Really?"

Shota nodded. "Good night, Tetsuya."

"G-good night. Sho-chan..." The boy snuggled into the pillow and his cat plushie in comfort and closed his eyes.

Aizawa mustered a smile for him before closing the bedroom door, knowing the other won't leave it until he comes back. Grabbing his keys and stepping out of his one-bedroom apartment, he locked the front door with the tried sigh.

* * *

 **Location: Hizashi's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: November 8, 20XX - Thursday**

"Uh... Shota... Don't you think you've had enough?" Hizashi Yamada - Pro Hero, English translator, Radio Host Extraordinaire, and all around loveable guy/babysitter/uncle - asked, raising an eyebrow. He was dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, his sunglasses set to the side as he sat one side of his coffee table. "You're gonna worry Tetsuya-chan if you drink anymore..." They sat on the floor.

He sighed as beer cans littered around them, a half dank one in his own hands while his oldest friend opened a new can. Shota could hold his liquor, that's for sure, but only for so long. His pink cheeks, half-lidded eyes, and for sure a pounding headache (he always got those when he drank yet never slurred speech. It was a mystery he'd yet to solve.), were all sure signs of how much the black-haired man already had.

Shota groaned, head laying on his side of the table, before muttering, "Masaki's watching him for the night..."

"Still," Hizashi pressed, "even if we have the night off doesn't mean you should drink yourself to an early grave."

Black eyes glared, pulling his current drink closer to his. "Take it and I take your hand."

He raised his hands in a 'chill out' motion. "No need. I'm good." Shota would do it too if he truly wanted to. (The last guy, a Villain who had robbed quite a few orphanages, who got that threat... Well... They didn't get the hand back afterward...) The thought made him shiver.

Anyway, they had gotten together for a guy's night out. Shota needed it. He looked more haggard lately and the usual bags under his eyes had bags under them. Some good old beer was the way to go. Good thing they had the night off and didn't have to report in until later the next day. His apartment was close to so many Hero Offices, including his own.

"Whatever," Shota grunted, taking another swing. Looked like he'd spend the night here. Hizashi was glad he had pulled out the sleeping bag he kept here for Shota. It was comfy, nice, warm, and most importantly yellow. It had to be yellow. Always yellow. Never another color. Why was it always yellow?

Shota knew.

Hizashi didn't.

It was that little quirk that made Shota... well, Shota. Hizashi thought it might have come up around their first year in U.A. Not sure. It also made him look like a caterpillar with a human face. Weird but in a cute way. Shota would never know the many pictures he had on the man. Future blackmail.

He gulped down a bit of beer. "Well, if you aren't going to drink yourself into an early grave then tell me what's wrong." Well, he deserved that glare... "Did something happen with the kitten?"

"No. Maybe... Not really..." Shota grumbled, voice muffled as he was face first into the wood. "Tetsuya's not as... quiet as he once was but..."

"...but he's still withdrawn?" Hizashi offered.

"I wouldn't say withdrawn..." He sighed. "Unsociable? More introverted than a child should be? He doesn't go outside or interact really with other kids - tried taking him to the local park a few times in hopes he'd at least get more sociable - and would rather stay curled up and read something."

"Maybe it's still too early for him to be around other kids just yet?"

"Tetsuya knows how to control his Quirk and it wouldn't be very long either. But none of the other kids will come near him and he refuses to go near them. I can't help but be worried." The younger Pro Hero turned his head to let his cheek press against the cool wooden top and glanced at his phone after taking it out, turning it on and checking the health app as he did so often. "Am I doing something wrong? I've tried lots of things, but nothing seems to work... There's not much progress... Maybe he's better off with someone else..."

Hizashi shook his head. "Don't talk like that. You're doing a wonderful job, Shota. Things like this take time. You know that."

"Yeah but..."

"No buts."

Shota sighed again tiredly finishing off his can of beer before crushing the can and throwing and failing to get it into the nearby trash can. "I'm also worried about the future..."

"Why?"

"Lots of things but right now I'm wondering how the apartment will handle us being there for a while longer. It'll be too small for us within the next year or two." The boy would surely want his own space as he grew.

"Then move."

"Move where though?"

"Here. This apartment complex has a lot of open apartments and there's one even open next to me. The guy had to move out weeks ago for whatever reason and no one's taken it yet." This was also a popular place for Pro Heroes to set up their homes. He had made many friends here since moving into this two-bedroom apartment. One room held his bedroom and the other was his office for his radio show. "You can easily afford it."

"Hmmm..."

"C'mon! It'll be a new opportunity for the kitten and yourself to start off somewhere new. There'll be more space and easier to get to work as it's near, well, everything! You need this! Plus, I'll be able to watch him whenever you need it!"

Black eyes bored into him. "I'll check it out. No promises."

"Sweet!" Hizashi cheered, chugged down his last beer. He was getting a bit too tipsy for his taste. "You won't regret it!"

* * *

 **Location: Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: November 17, 20XX - Saturday**

Just as he had said, he had given the apartment a chance and had checked it out with the kitten. He had clung to Shota the whole time, but he thought it was a good choice in the end. Tetsuya even got his own room. He even picked which one he wanted - not that it mattered as they were basically the same size. It was another chance to move on.

Someplace new. New things to experience and new people to meet.

It would be good for the kitten.

There was even a local park nearby he could go to. Get some fresh air even if he didn't make any friends. Shota was sure he would make one or two as he enrolled him into the local elementary school within the next year or so. Or he might go with homeschooling him until enrolling him in the local junior high school when he turns twelve. Not right now. But he would need to soon. The child couldn't be cooped up in his room forever.

They were done packing and moving everything into the new house and his old apartment had been sold easily to someone else (even Tetsuya's old home had been sold as well. The money placed within the savings for the child to use in the future. Likely sooner than later with how mature he was growing up to be.) and they were now sitting in their new living room, cardboard boxes scrawled on in black broad felt-tip marker surrounding them and furniture either sitting around that needed to be moved or stuffed wrapped in bubble wrap. Tetsuya's things were in his room, already in the process of unpacking - it was slow progress - and Shota's stuff was in his.

He'd need to get the kid a bed too. Maybe Hizashi could do that. Or he could give him is. He had his sleeping bags after all. The kitten would be against it.

Sigh...

Sitting in the corner was the butsudan altar, already set up with the picture on each side of the vase and some fresh flowers Hizashi had given them as a welcoming present along with some food. Shota sat in front of it, lighting an incense, and stared at each picture silently. Soft humming came from Tetsuya's room and filled their new home. It was something he didn't know but it sounded full of love and care.

"I hope you are all well." Clapping his hands softly and bowing his head, he prayed for their continued peaceful rest. "Please continue to watch over us and keep Tetsuya safe."

* * *

 ** _*Masaki_** _**is Manual from the Killer Stain Arc.**_

 **Author's Note: Basically 1 year has gone by (Tetsuya has turned 7 and Aizawa has turned 22) and now there's eight-nineish still to go until we get to the starting point of the manga which will be all condensed in the next chapter. :P That's gonna be fun. Yippee! No, really. It will be. I'm excited to finally get into the starting point of Tetsuya's path to being a Hero. ^^**

 **Not much else to say. Just wondering what you all want to see next chapter or if you have any ideas on what you want Tetsuya to do in the future. I'll gladly take anything as we're just starting any Tetsuya's path can basically go anywhere.**

 **Whoever can guess who will be appearing next then you'll get a big ol' cookie! _(Hint: Check Tetsuya's Profile!)_**

 **Sorry for the late chapter too. Hopefully, the other one will be on time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 37, Favs: 26, Reviews: 15, Communities: 7, Views: 1754**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **ash20312- Indeed it's gonna be so cute! And there will so be a training montage! Maybe... Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Jarhead- I love writing it! This story provides a different way to do things from I've handled Hisoka. Tetsuya is his name. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **De hearts- If you think he's tragic, take a look at my other BNHA story - The Hand That Bleeds. But yes, he is very tragic. There'll be many more things he'll need to overcome though so keep an eye out. I really do love Tetsuya and I am sad that I decided to kill them off - they were wonderful, and I loved writing them - but some things needed to be done. And don't worry, things will get better and Aizawa will do his best! He's Dadizawa after all! Hehe. Shinsou will appear! Eventually. Sooner than you think. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Vedahzii- There are still some things that need to happen before the beginning of Tetsuya goes to high school which will be starting in the next chapter. Lol. Don't worry! There will be some kicking of Villain's asses soon! Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

 **Prince- Masaki is Manual and Emi is Ms. Joke. Those are their real names. ^^ If you think his sad face here is sad wait until later in the story. I've got a lot planned and not all of it... nice... Soooooooo... :) But there will be plenty of smiles! Shouji or Ashido, huh? I can see that. I'll have to see what I can think up! OMG! You got the reference for Yoru's name! I didn't think anyone would! I love Shugo Chara; have been since I first saw it when it came out. ^^ Ikuto (and Yoru! Especially him!) is my favorite and my babe from SC. Who's your favorite? Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **White Lily-of-the-Valley**

* * *

 ** _White Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria Majalis) -_** _A sweetly scented, highly poisonous woodland flowering plant native to cooler regions of Asia and Europe, where it originates from. It's also called May bells, Our Lady's tears, and Mary's tears due to the religious ties it has. It is important to note that all parts of the lily-of-the-valley are poisonous and dangerous if ingested that could cause such things as vomiting, drowsiness, red skin rashes, and abdominal pain. This flower is sometimes cultivated as a source of perfume, teas, and ointments for burns, fever and as a sedative and diuretic. Some believe that this flower is a protective charm used against witches' spells, is a flower of the fairies, or could be a flower of bad luck. It symbolizes new beginnings because of its expression of a return to peace and happiness_.

* * *

 **Location: Living Room, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: October 21, 20XX - Monday**

It wasn't easy.

It wouldn't be easy.

Shota Aizawa could tell you that from the beginning. (Why did he agree to this again...?)

The year was hard when they had first moved - with all that paperwork he had to finish - but they had still made it through thick and thin. The move was quick since they didn't have many things. Tetsuya had mostly stayed inside their new apartment, usually sticking close to him, even going as far as to sleep inside Shota's room when he was off doing Hero Work. (He'd watch over the young kitten from the cameras he had installed all over the house when he had the time, and more often than not, Tetsuya would wake from a night terror. Shota couldn't help but wonder what they were... He was never told, after all.)

He was glad Hizashi had pitched this place to him, and the man had been right when mentioning that there was more space than his previous one (being closer to the Hero Office he worked with was also a plus.) It also helped that the apartment complex housed many new and up-and-coming Pro Heroes and sidekicks and their families, so the security calmed his nerves when leaving the kitten alone for so long.

But he still couldn't help but worry even after a year had passed.

Just as he predicted, Tetsuya hadn't interacted with many of the children from the neighborhood or even from the apartment complex. It's not that Aizawa disliked the idea of socializing himself (he very much did, to be honest, but he'd do it for Tetsuya) but he had read that those social interactions would help young children to develop their own sense of self, sharing, how to set boundaries, and become more lively. He encouraged the child to help him and Tetsuya would try. He truly did. But his Quirk prevented a majority of the children coming close and even those who would try ended up leaving after so long. (Don't get him started on that Heroes and Villain game they played. He had forgotten how cruel children could be.)

He tried, he truly did.

It just didn't seem to help at all.

He was shyer than before but more often than not they stayed inside or did whatever Tetsuya had an interest in together, like flower pressing or more recently, origami and cooking, or with Hizashi and/or anyone else from his rather short friend list. He liked to sing with Hizashi when they were alone, and the broadcaster was teaching the kitten English and even a few instruments. He had also found that the child was gaining an obsession with cats as well... Shota wasn't sure where he had gotten that, but he was glad that Tetsuya was beginning to smile more.

There had been mishaps, especially in the beginning, and moments where he wished that things were different, but they got through them and they'd work it out for the future. He would make sure of that.

"Sho-chan, you need to fold it to the right not the left," Tetsuya said, looking up at him as black eyes glanced down at the... thing... he was trying to fold. Tetsuya was teaching him how to make a crane so how did it turn into the abomination it currently was? He pointedly ignored the many attempts that littered the table and floor around them.

"Hmmm..." He sighed, before laying back and giving Tetsuya a lazy grin. "Why don't you show it to me again?" Well, his fingers weren't that nimble...

Tetsuya frowned and huffed, cheeks puffing out cutely like a squirrel. "Sho-chan! Now, it goes like this," Tetsuya began as he showed Shota how to fold a crane once more with a new piece of paper. There had to be at least fifty by now around Tetsuya himself. He was so fun to tease.

(Tetsuya was why he agreed to this.)

* * *

 ** _And so, the years went by..._**

* * *

 **Location: Hizashi's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: December 9, 20XX - Saturday**

Hizashi had just stepped out of his office, stretching his arms in the air, and winced as the muscles in his legs and arms pulled from sitting too long. He placed his hands on his back and leaned backward, letting out a sigh of relief as he heard his back creak. He sighed. Kami-sama, he felt old...

Now, don't get him wrong he loved doing what he did but sometimes when he did it for long periods of time it made him so tired. Hizashi was glad to be where he was now, what his job had become, and how popular his late night/early morning broadcast was becoming. But still...

He felt so old...

So, what could this old man do now?

Well, it was to follow the commands of his growling stomach overlord.

Letting out a huff, he turned on the heel of his socked left foot and began making his way to the living room to check on Tetsuya before heading to the kitchen. The kitten was likely to be hungry as well. It was well after six in the evening and Shota wouldn't be coming home until late to gather up his little bundle of joy and head to his apartment. Glancing around upon entering the room, he saw the now seven-year-old Tetsuya reading a book on the couch about different herbs and plants and the _'1001+ ways to use them'_ as some random TV show played softly in the background. The white-haired boy was curled up over a bunch of pillows. He wondered if the kid was going to become a botanist or maybe a flower shop owner or even a support for some Heroes.

The last option wouldn't be too surprising.

Not at the rate the kid soaked up everything.

Maybe he'd even be a Hero. Hizashi could see that (he could also see the kitten having a hard time due to the nature of his Quirk and he didn't want him to get hurt...) happening.

Anyway, he grinned when Tetsuya looked up and saw him, and just as he was about to ask what he wanted for dinner, Hizashi stumbled over a wire - that he forgot to pick up earlier - and fell forward, face hitting the hardwood floor as he felt pain pulsing in his left foot and his nose. He heard Tetsuya call out to him in surprise.

Welp, hello floor.

How are you doing?

Him?

Well, he was doing just peachy.

What was he going to do now?

He was going to merge with the floor now.

"..."

If only he could...

"Fucking hell..." He groaned, voice muffled by the floor. He moved slowly, rubbing his face as he rolled over and went to inspect the damage done to him. The world around him meant nothing for a second, feeling around to see if he broke anything. Seeing that nothing was, he let out a breath of relief.

"Hi-chan? What does... fuck... ing hell mean?" He snapped to attention when he heard the little ball of sunshine ask that and his only thought was how fucked he was with Shota when he heard about this. Shota always figured it out. Nothing could be kept from him.

Maybe he could still run away with his life, and more importantly, all of his sweet, beautiful, blonde hair...

* * *

 ** _Lots of things happened..._**

* * *

 **Location: Local Park, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: March 13, 20XX - Sunday**

Tetsuya had decided to go to the nearby park from the prompting of Sho-chan, who said he'd be as pale as the moon if he stayed inside for weeks. Plus, it made Sho-chan happy when he went out and... interacted with other kids or at least tried to. Not that any of them wanted him near them and when he did try and play with them it usually ended up with all of them playing Heroes and Villain...

He didn't like playing that game anymore...

But he did like playing on the swings, especially when no one was around. He could swing up and down all he wanted, his legs kicking in the air as they swung back and forth, getting higher with each kick. It reminded Tetsuya of floating and he liked being in the air just as much as being on the ground. (A strange confliction he continued to have...) It wasn't noisy either. (Loud noises made his head hurt and it made him... hungry... Want. _Eat. Drain... **Survival of the fittest. Nature.**_ Every-) And he could dream about whatever he wanted without people shouting or yelling or throwing things at him.

And yet his wish for silence was never met as he came to a stop, blue and white patterned sneakers skirting to a stop on the dirt to slow his descent before he came to a standstill as he cast a look ahead of him. Yellow eyes saw between white strands of bangs three boys laughing and playing with each other as they entered the park. He's seen them before. They liked to tease him a lot because his Quirk wasn't Hero Quality like theirs apparently... (Drain... Drain... _**Survival of the fittest.**_ )

He calmed himself before anything happened and stood from the swing with a sigh. He turned on the heel of his shoe to make his way back home. He wanted to talk to Sho-chan about something...

That was going to have to wait though when he heard the sound of a hissing feline and the laughing grow even louder. Against his better judgment to stay away and instincts to do something, he moved to the small cluster of trees on the left side of the park and moved back into the shadows, blending in the best he could behind the closest tree. Glancing around the dark brown tree trunk, hands gripping some of the bark, he looked to see the three kids, just a little older than him, surrounding something.

He moved a little closer and his yellow-colored eyes widened, pupils thinning to slivers, as he gaped a little at what he saw. On the ground was a kitten with dirt staining their matted dark grey coat, knotted, dull, and twisted from the months of neglect. Their small frame had a bony edge as they raised their tail imperiously, shoulders hunched and sharp tiny fangs out as their paws looked ready to run, sharp claws ready to scratch. Ears were flattened back against their skull and hooded lamp-like eyes with a ring of molten gold around the expanse of black.

They tried to look imposing to the boys.

But such a tiny thing wouldn't do much to the large egos of three young boys who had dreams of being the top Heroes and gain all the fame they wanted.

( ** _Survival of the fittest..._** )

One of the boys snickered and threw a rock at the kitten, earning him another hiss as they dodged it. "Hah! Look at that!"

Another chanted as he kept throwing stones at it, "Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat!"

( ** _Survival..._** )

"My mum told me that black cats mean really bad luck," the third one said as he also threw a stone. This one hit the feline, making it whine in pain as it fell backward.

( **... _of..._** )

The first sneered as he suggested, "I say we kill it!"

( ** _...the..._** )

The others nodded. "Yeah!"

( ** _...fit-_** )

Something snapped, similar to a rubber band, inside him ( _Drain... Eat... Survive... Live!_ ) and before Tetsuya knew it, he wasn't hiding behind the tree anymore and was crouching protectively over the downed feline, standing in between the bullies and the kitten. " _Leave_ them _alone_ ," he hissed, voice unconsciously becoming a bit grainy and echoey. His Quirk directed itself at the boys and he growled at them as they screamed and dropped their rocks in fear and whispered, " _Boo_."

"Gyaaaa!"

"Demon!"

"Run away!"

He glared, eyes showing a primordial feeling until he couldn't see them run with the tail between their legs anymore. Once they were gone and when no one was around, the thing had snapped right back in place and he let out a shaky sigh, falling backward onto his bum before laying back fully with a groan. That scared the heebie jeebies out of him...

Tetsuya hoped the kitten was going to be okay. It was likely long gone by now. Animals always stayed clear of him wherever he went, after all. He wondered what Sho-chan would say if he saw him like this.

Now he was going to have to get up...

Did he have to?

Just as he was going to move, something fuzzy bumped his hand. Slowly sitting up, he was surprised to see the grey kitten still around, looking up at him with its giant yellow eyes. "You're... you're still here..." He blinked twice in surprise before his face softened, a soft smile appearing on his lips. "Are you okay?" The kitten blinked slowly, tilting its head as it meowed at Tetsuya before rubbing itself against Tetsuya's leg as if thanking him.

He stared into its eyes in shock as it rubbed his hand again before leaping into his lap and felt something wet go down his cheek. It purred happily as he picked it up and made his way back home.

Tetsuya wasn't sure why he was doing this or what Sho-chan was going to say or even let him keep the kitten, but something just felt right with this.

He smiled a bit as it purred again, full of content in his arms.

* * *

 ** _Meeting new friends and family that appeared along the way..._**

* * *

 **Location: Private Training Room, Private Hero Training Gym, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: July 22, 20XX - Wednesday**

Shota had been surprised when Tetsuya had brought home a mangled and flea-bitten little thing one day (that was conveniently later named Yoru during the night) a year ago but what surprised him even more so was the kid's determination to become a Hero. Not that it didn't make him happy to hear that he was following Shota's shoes, but it had made him wonder why.

Every Hero had a reason for becoming what they were. It could be simple or complex. It could be their reason for living or simply a childhood wish. It could be for the fame and the money or to hunt down some Villains. It could be for the betterment of society or for revenge.

It could be for many things.

So, what was Tetsuya's reason?

It was simple.

"I want to prove to myself that someone with a Quirk like mine can become a Hero too..." Tetsuya mumbled at the end, blushing hard as he tried to have the ground swallow him up. Not on Shota's watch. What Shota didn't know was that Tetsuya had another reason and that was to gain Sho-chan's approval when he became a Pro Hero. But Sho-chan didn't need to know that.

Not right now, at least.

Shota nodded, hands in his pockets as he held a lazy grin, understanding all too well why the kitten thought that. "Okay. Now then, we will be going over some basic stretches and some basic moves like punches and kicks today. But before that, we will begin with some exercises to improve your stamina, strength, speed, and agility. Understood?"

"Yes, Sho-chan!" Tetsuya nodded.

Black eyes gained a serious glint. "I won't be going easy on you. If you're not serious about this or lack, then I won't teach you again. Understood?"

"I understand."

"Good," he said, grin widening. "Let's begin with running."

Why did Tetsuya have a chill suddenly go down his spine from Sho-chan's smile?

* * *

 ** _A new path to the future that was finally born..._**

* * *

 **Location: Hizashi's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: May 15, 20XX - Friday**

Hizashi sat down on the couch. He held a whiteboard in one hand as the bottom of it rested against his knee while he held up a capped marker pen in his other hand. He tapped it against the whiteboard, pretending to underline the word at the top of the list of written words. He asked as he tapped the whiteboard once more, "In today's lesson, we shall be going over a few variations of the greeting hello in English. Okay?"

The young child was sitting down on the carpeted floor a few feet away from him nodded. "Yes, sensei!"

Internally his heart clenched as the kid smiled up at him adorably, with hearts, flowers, and a bright light shining behind him. "Awesome!" He tapped the whiteboard once more, "Now, there are dozens of different expressions and ways to greet people and English speakers have come up with them to basically avoid repeating the same words. Here are some variations of _'Hello'_ , the most common greeting," Hizashi spoke, tapping at each word as he went down the list. "This is _'Hi'_ , an everyday expression used the most out of the variations. This is _'Good morning!'_ or simply _'Morning!'_ and, though a little formal, it's what you say when you see someone first thing in the morning. There is also _'Good afternoon'_ and _'Good evening'_ for other times of the day." He tapped to the two words that had arrows drawn to them. "Got it so far?"

"Un!" Hizashi saw that Tetsuya was adopting Shota-chan's wording now... Was he going to have to learn Tetsuya speech now? Well, it wouldn't be as hard as learning Shota speech... Kami-sama, he remembered those days... Fun times.

He tapped the next phrase. "Good! Now, this is _'What's Up?'_ and even though it looks like a question, it doesn't need to be answered as one."

The kitten tilted his head. "Why?"

"Well, you can say it when you greet someone and pass them when you don't intend to wait for their answer."

"But isn't that rude?" Tetsuya tilted his head the other way, frowning in a confused way.

Hizashi's heart clenched again. Stop that, heart! Live! "Maybe to some but it's usually when the people don't have time and you're trying to go places or when you're close enough to someone that you just automatically know the answer."

"Oh..."

The blonde man tapped the next few words on the list. "Yup! It's basically the same as the next phrase, _'How's it going?'_. It looks like a question too, but sometimes it's not! Now, up next is _'Yo'_ and it's slang use to make the person sound cool or tough or even silly. It was super popular back in the day."

"So... You're really cool then?"

"Y-you... think I'm cool?" His sunglasses lower themselves automatically.

"Yeah, Hi-chan!" Tetsuya's smile seemed to brighten the whole room... no... the whole world that Hizashi knew of! Before the young child knew it, the older male was taking pictures and hugging the dear life out of him.

(The sudden chill that went down his spine and the zapping of positive feelings when Tetsuya touched his hand didn't bother him at all. Nope. He was used to it.)

"Kitten! I love you so much!"

"H-H-Hi-chan!"

* * *

 ** _The enjoyment of learning and discovery..._**

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX - Monday**

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

The alarm could only be described as something between a guttural cry of shock, a baby's shriek, and New York's morning traffic. It was infuriating. It made one want to strangle something. It grated on the nerves. It made one want to grind their teeth into oblivion until it was done. So, from under the fluffy, cat-themed covers came a grey hand slamming the alarm clock that had been crippling his thoughts and assaulting his ears. He made sure to press dismiss this time. He wasn't going to do the snooze option... again...

Hopefully...

Anyway, the hand had sneaked its way back into the depths of darkness the blanket foretold as Tetsuya snuggled into the warm burrowed himself into his wonderfully warm and soft sheets. He rubbed the remainders of sleep from his eyes and yellow eyes gazed into the darkness his blanket provided as it was pulled over his head to escape from the vivid light that had extended into his room from his window, blinds pulled open. He knew he had forgotten something... Or Hi-chan did it...

Likely Hi-chan...

It wouldn't be the first time too...

Damn Hi-chan and his long, blonde hair! May it turn grey from stress and working to the point where he'd have to dye it!

The thought made Tetsuya chuckle softly and roll his eyes as his hand reached out to grab his phone to check the time and date.

Today was the day, after all!

* * *

 ** _Some were easy while some were hard..._**

 ** _Some were filled with happiness while some were filled with sadness..._**

 ** _Some had turned out to be life-changing while some had simply become distance memories..._**

 ** _But all ended up defining one boy's life and all those around him..._**

 ** _One that ended up changing the future for many..._**

 ** _This is his story._**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well...** **No excuses, really, but I just wanted to get something out before the year ended and I've been slowly getting antsy of not writing for a while and I really been getting back that drive too! I'm sorry for not updated for well over six months now. Not just with the lost of the drive to write, a lot of other things has happened as well… Like for real! There was something happening each month and I couldn't get away with it!**

 **So, please, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **And review.**

 **I should have THTB's next chapter up soon after New Year's!**

 **Drawing Time! Look! Look! I finally did that genderbend image of Hisoka and Tetsuya. And I drew Yoru too... I need to get back into drawing... It's been so long... Which I did... I've finally been getting back into the swing of things with drawing and writing and so decided to do some collabs with a very cool person, so I suggest to go and check out her art and profile (the link is in the pictures' profiles). One had been for Halloween and the other way just a fall theme. She even drew Tetsuya as a Christmas present for me! She's awesome! And! Someone's drawn Tetsuya so cutely! Go check them out! _(Just take out the spaces and the links should work.)_**

 **Link: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_BNHA-Genderbend-793185820**

 **Link: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Tetsuya-Kurosawa-Companion-799647710**

 **Collab 1 Link: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_BNHA-Collab-with-StarAmulet-Halloween-Chase-818544757**

 **Collab 2 Link: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_BNHA-Collab-with-StarAmulet-Picnic-820849902**

 **Christmas Present Link: www._deviantart._com/_staramulet/_art/_Christmas-Gifts-824718634**

 **Other Person Link: www._deviantart._com/_andykurosaki98/_art/_Some-Sketches-801884754**

 **Please, review. I always love hearing what you have to say.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 43, Favs: 28, Reviews: 16, Communities: 7, Views: 2276**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **Vedahzii- I live and yet it takes me almost four months to let out a chapter... I know you will be able to get something out; I've already seen you do it, so I know you'll be able to continue it! I believe in you. ^^ Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Black-Eyed Susan**

* * *

 **Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Hirta):** _They are very hardy plants and can tolerate different conditions throughout the world, being native to woodlands and meadows of Eastern and Central North America. It has been used by Native Americans as a medical plant, believed to be a remedy for things like colds, the flu, infections, swelling, and snakebites. Some of the other names it has are Brown Betty, Gloriosa Daisy, Golden Jerusalem, and Yellow Ox-eye Daisy. Its original name was given due to the flower's signature dark brown center, hence the "black-eyed" reference. However, the Susan part pf the name had originated from an Old English Poem written by John Gay (1685-1732) entitled 'Sweet William's Farewell To Black-Eyed Susan'. It is about how these wildflowers and the sweet William plant (Dianthus barbatus) bloom together beautifully to celebrate their eternal love for each other. It is a symbol of encouragement and motivation._

* * *

 **Location: Bathroom, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

Tetsuya Kurosawa stared in the mirror; his half-awake golden eyes squinted at his reflection. His pajama shirt was hanging off of one shoulder, the baggy sleeves falling just past his fingers. There was a little bit of foam on his mouth from after he had spit out the toothpaste and turned off the water, and his hair was akin to a bird's nest sticking up in every direction. Cleaning off his toothbrush from leftover toothpaste residue, and tapped his toothbrush against the rim of the sink to get rid of the extra water before placing it in the cat-themed cup.

He then went off to continue with the rest of his morning routine, bathing and getting dressed, throwing on some warm clothes for the cold weather outside he'd eventually have to face, in the early morning - the sun was only starting to rise - before going back to his room to wake up Yoru. Such a lazy kitty she was and then it was onto the kitchen to make breakfast.

Rummaging around, he gathered up the pots and pans he needed to make the usual breakfast: rice, miso soup, fish, and some tamagoyaki. Placing the pans and getting the supplies out of the fridge and pantry, he began with the rice, placing some of it in the rice cooker. Starting it, he moved along to begin chopping ingredients for the miso soup. He placed the water in the pan, turning on the heat, and began working on chopping two spring onions very finely and three medium-sized washed and peeled potatoes into small cubes. He then moved onto the one-inch piece of fresh ginger, chopping it just as fine as the onions as the water slowly began to boil.

Once the water was fully boiling, he added the instant dashi stock to the pan, mixing it before adding the potato cubes and turned the heat down to medium before placing a top on it that instantly fogged up. Turning on the sleeping cat timer for six minutes, he moved onward to prepping the fish, humming as he took out three five-ounce fillets of salmon and laid them out. Placing one of the cut spring onions, ginger, and two tablespoons of soy sauce in a bowl, he mixed them all together before pouring them over the salmon fillets before setting them off to the side to let them stand for about fifteen minutes.

Just then, the timer dinged, and he reset it for fifteen minutes. Taking off the top of the pan, steam rose from the soup immediately. Tetsuya grinned at the smell. It was starting to smell so good. Grabbing a large ladle and a bowl, he placed some of the soup from the pan into it and added some white miso paste, dissolving it into the soup. He gradually added the miso mixture into the soup, mixing it gently while he placed the fish in the grill rack above a small bowl of boiling water. It was to keep the fish moist while it grilled. He turned the temperature from medium to high heat, turning the timer to five minutes. He then went back to add the last of the miso mixture, stirring the miso soup gently as he tried to make sure it didn't go to a boil.

Keeping an eye on that and the timer for the fish, he began working on the tamagoyaki by taking out a large mixing bowl and combined eggs, sugar, soy sauce, and bonito flakes, stirring the ingredients thoroughly together. After he was done with that, he went over to the miso soup and added the rest of the chopped spring onions into the soup before taking the fish off of the grill and setting it to the side. He then heard the rice cooker ding, opening it with a click. Taking out some plates and bowls, he placed one of them on each of the plates before dishing out the miso soup, taking it off the heat before turning the stove off, and rice in each bowl.

He opened the fridge, glancing at the already made bento boxes for Sho-chan and Hi-chan and then his own before grabbing each of the man's preferred drinks. Sho-chan liked his milk, Hi-chan liked his orange juice, and he would simply have his green tea. He then moved to set the drinks, bowls, and plates to the table, glancing at Yoru lounging on the couch who stared at him lazily.

"Yoru," he called out, earning a small meow as he beamed at her. "Such a pretty girl you are." Her tail swished at the compliment, no… at the fact. "Could you go wake up Sho-chan, please? You know how heavy he sleeps when he gets back from his late nights." The black, fluffy cat got up, arching her back with her butt up in the air, tail stretching upward before she jumped down to the floor and padded away with a flick of her tail. "Thank you," he called out before going back to the kitchen to finish up the tamagoyaki.

He heated up a bit of vegetable oil in a small, non-stick frying pan before he added the egg mixture. As he cooked, his ears perked up at the sound of the lock of the front door clicking open before the door was slammed open and a shout of "Good morning" was heard.

"Good morning, Hi-chan," Tetsuya said without looking, rubbing his ear a bit to stop the ringing from the sudden loud noise. "Please close the door behind you this time," he ordered as he began to fold the half-cooked eggs, creating a distinctive layered effect.

"Okay, kitten," Hi-chan said happily, closing the front door behind him before flopping himself at the table. "This looks soo good!"

Tetsuya narrowed his eyes at the other after he began another batch of tamagoyaki, pointing a pair of long chopsticks at the elder man dressed in his Hero Costume. "Don't even think about it, Hi-chan, or else you don't get your bento."

Hi-chan sagged, pouting a bit as he lowered the pair of chopsticks he was going to use to grab at the fish. "Fine..."

It was the same every morning. Hi-chan came in on his own - since he had his own key (made from stealing Sho-chan's copy long ago) - and he'd eat their food. Not that Tetsuya minded. (Sho-chan kinda did. Hi-chan did have his own food at his own apartment, after all) He liked cooking for his family. It was fun and made the coldness seeping inside him a little more bearable. Hi-chan didn't stay down for long, perking back up moments later with a grin, blond hair bouncing as he began to talk.

"You excited for today, kitten?"

Tetsuya nodded, finishing up with the rest of the tamagoyaki. "I am... I really am but... I'm nervous too..." He placed the eggs together, turning off the stove and placing the pan on a non-hot burner so everything could begin to cool off, and he cut each of them up into quarters.

"You'll be just fine!" Hi-chan exclaimed as he placed the plate in the center of the table. "No need to be nervous, kitten! I know you got this!" The loud Pro Hero gave him a thumbs up, earning a small, fond smile from the small teen.

"Un..." Tetsuya nodded but even then, that didn't make the nervous jitters spreading in his gut go away.

They continued a bit of small talk for a few more minutes before a grumble came from the darkness of the hallway. "It's too early to be so loud, Hizashi."

"Shota! Good morning!" Hi-chan grinned as the scruffy-looking Sho-chan came out of the shadows, hair all over the place and heavy bags under his eyes. "Looks like you've got something on your head there," he teased the other.

Sho-chan's eyes narrowed at the other, scowling as Yoru let out a happy meow, easily hanging off of Sho-chan's head. "Yoru." The said animal perked up, eyes shining as she spotted Hi-chan; she moved a bit, tail swishing slowly as her legs bobbed a bit. "Hair." Without a second thought, the cat used Sho-chan's head as a springboard and pounced onto Hi-chan's hair. The black-haired man held a pleased look at the mess Yoru caused Hi-chan, messing with his hair. He sat, and both he and Tetsuya ignored the panicked screams, blond strands floating to the floor, and yowls of pain.

A common occurrence, really.

Tetsuya picked up his pair of chopsticks, grabbing his bowl of rice. "Good morning, Sho-chan."

"Brat," Sho-chan grunted fondly as he picked up his chopsticks.

Tetsuya giggled as the two began to eat.

An hour or so later, he was waving as the two left with their bentos, Hi-chan whining and slouched over as his hair was now tangled and messed up, off to U.A. Tetsuya wished them farewell, the two wishing him luck for later: the door closing behind them with a click. Looking at the clock on the wall, he noticed he still had another hour and a half before he'd need to leave himself. So he busied himself with cleaning up the dishes from the table, setting them inside the sink along with everything he used to make breakfast.

Grabbing a small bowl and a small can from a cabinet filled to the brim with similar cans, he dished out Yoru's breakfast of delicious premium cat food Sho-chan loved spoiling her with. "Yoru. Breakfast." He placed the plate on the ground in the living room and she made a beeline for the food as he went back to cleaning the kitchen up. He washed the dishes, placing one after another on the drying rack until he was done. Wiping his hands dry, he continued taking care of things and getting ready.

* * *

 **Location: Front Entrance of U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

Tetsuya stopped at the front gates, hands gripping the strap of his shoulder bag. His hair fluttered through the cool wind, readjusting his scarf absentmindedly as he lifted it a bit higher over his neck, looking as if he was making himself warmer in the cold weather they were having; it was anything but. He wasn't as affected by the cold as others were, the coldness inside him making him only needing a light age-worn blue sweater to keep himself from freezing to death.

U.A. High...

It was the number one high school for Heroics: the top Hero Academy in the world. Each year, there would be hundreds upon hundreds of students who aspired to be a Hero in their own right to take on the brutal entrance exam. Only one in every three hundred would make it through. It was for the best of the best - the cream of the crop.

U.A.'s goal?

To turn out the best and brightest next generation of 'Pro Heroes'.

And on that day, it was the start of a new semester for a brand that would have the children become the first-year students who would hopefully become the future of the Hero Profession.

Golden eyes glanced through white bangs up at the ginormous, dominating main building of U.A. High School, neck craned back towards the top of the school. No matter how many times he'd seen it since he was young, the main building was an impressive piece of modern architecture with its high towers interconnected with one another and highly reflective glass panels.

It towered over everything.

Tetsuya began walking up to it, going past barren trees. A tall white sign that was placed just inches from the front gate told them that exam day had finally come.

Was he ready?

Maybe...

Maybe not...

A little...

A lot?

Not really...

Just a little bit, though, and he'd take those chances. He'd make Sho-chan proud! And Hi-chan... Can't forget about him! Yeah, can't do that... (The man was likely to cry if he ever knew that so best never to mention it ever.)

Yeah...

Finally making his way to the large building they were directed to, he received his testing number along with the large number of people that surrounded him. He could feel their glances as they moved away instinctively, unsure why but felt better when they were away from him. He was used to it after so many years. It was better for them. They wouldn't need to be near him

 _Even if the one inside him wanted their warmth._

With his testing number in hand, he made his way to the lockers they were allowed to use, each with a corresponding number that matched their testing number. There he placed the things he didn't need, a small grape-like purple-haired boy doing the same to the right locker while the other looked like it had already been used.

Now then, on to the meeting room.

* * *

 **Location: Auditorium A, Southern U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

He seemed to be there a bit early, taking a seat in the back, with how many students were gathering around in their seats. The place was huge. It was like a concert hall with how spacious it was. The stage was dark, and Tetsuya felt like something was going to happen at any second. Like a solo rock concert.

This had Hi-chan written all over it.

It wouldn't be the first time either.

A few moments later the place was as packed as it allowed, making him sit between two boys. To his left was a male teen with messy, indigo-colored hair that flared out similar to what Tetsuya's bed head looked like. His half-closed eyes were a dark purple, side glancing at him that narrowed into a slight scowl when he caught Tetsuya staring at him. He noted that there were very dark eye bags underneath them similar to Sho-chan's eyes when he barely got any sleep. Tetsuya tilted his head just a bit as the one who could pass for Sho-chan's child scooted as far as he could away from him.

Tetsuya leaned forward after that, resting his cheek against his fist, his elbow resting against the desk. Sharpened black fingernails, ones that always grew back like that whenever he clipped them the day before, tapped lightly against the desk. He made sure to be quiet about it, just a way to pass the time since he had left his phone in the locker with his bag, but it seemed that it didn't matter.

"Will you stop that annoying tapping?! It's getting on my nerves!" To his right was the same boy from before. He had a really round head the more Tetsuya looked at him with large oval-shaped eyes. Those purple round things did look like rather large grapes. Perhaps it was due to his Quirk?

Tetsuya stopped tapping, sitting up and leaning back as the small one glared at him. "Oh... Um... I-I'm sorry..."

"Yeah! Well, sorry's not going to cut it! I'm here to get into U.A. and I don't know about you but I'm getting into the Hero Course and I don't need your undoubtedly annoying self around getting in my way," he sneered, nose pointed up in the air as his eyes narrowed into squints.

Tetsuya frowned, lowering a bit into himself as he wrung his fingers lightly together. There was no need to be so rude about it. There were many who wanted to get into the Hero Course, Tetsuya among them, but there wasn't any guarantee that he or anyone would really get into it.

Oh... The small teen was still talking. Tetsuya must have blanked out halfway through because he was now getting onto why it was so cold there.

"God! You'd think U.A. would have central heat with how high tech they are! Why's it so cold here in the first place?!"

Was Tetsuya's Quirk not affecting him? Was he that unafraid? Strong headed? Or was he just plain stupid? Tetsuya wasn't sure. He knew his Quirk was less effective on certain kinds of people but still, it surprised him. It was rare for that to happen.

"Is this your fault?! You're not even shivering and others around you are!" The boy pointed a finger at him, glaring. "It's got to be your Quirk! Yeah! You should leave with your out of control, villous Quirk! Look at how others are trying to get away from you! This just proves you aren't fit to be a Hero-"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to point?" The sleepy boy to his left drawled out, scowling at them. He had laid his head on the desk, arm wrapped around themselves under his head as a makeshift pillow.

"You! Stay ou-" The grape boy froze, finger still in the air, as his face slackened into a blank expression, mouth open in a bit of a gap.

A grin slowly morphed onto the sleepy boy's face, eyes filling a bit with fiendish delight. Tetsuya's body immediately and automatically went as stiff as a pack of nails. It was really similar to how Sho-chan took pleasure in upping his tourt-training. "Good. Now back down, shut up, and watch the orientation. It's about to begin

And just like that, the grape boy obeyed, sitting and staring distantly at the stage below. Tetsuya stared at him in wonder before glancing back at the other who was staring directly at him, the grin was gone, and his eyes were narrowed. Tetsuya stared back in awe.

"Th-thank you for saving me..." he muttered, giving him a small smile.

The sleepy boy blinked a few times before frowning lightly, confusing Tetsuya a bit with his reaction, and grumbled something he was unable to hear as he laid his head back down. Before Tetsuya could ask for the other's name, the lights on the stage suddenly brightened in a flash to three large projector screens as Hi-chan appeared on stage in front of them, dressed in black leather and a big speaker fixture wrapped around his neck.

It looked like he was able to salvage his hair.

"Welcome one and all to my live show, future U.A. candidates! Everybody say heeeeeey!" Hi-chan shouted very, very excitedly into the mic and jabbed his fingers out to either side of him at the crowd.

All he got was silence. Sho-chan said not to say anything; Tetsuya wondered if he should. Hi-chan would like that! But Sho-chan said not to encourage that kind of behavior...

"Tough crowd," Present Mic quipped, still grinning. Well, at least it didn't bother him... Well, knowing Hi-chan, it might a little bit, but he'd bounce back from it in seconds. That was Hi-chan, after all. "All right, examinees, I'm gonna give you the LOW-DOWN on how this is gonna GO DOWN! Are you ready!? Let's get to the main show! ARE YOU READY?! YEAH!" Hi-chan punched a fist in the air like a rock star would, the U.A. logo flashing on the monitors behind him.

The screen then changed to what seemed to be the auditorium, and then lines grew from it, separating into different areas each lettered A through G. Tetsuya looked down at the card he had received earlier, taking it out of his pocket. It had his name, exam number, and his testing location. He was going to be in area C.

"Just like your application said, kiddies, you'll all be conducting a ten-minute mock battle at our replica city-district! You can take whatever equipment you want, just make sure to gather at your designated meeting area after the presentation, ya dig?!"

"Tch. Looks like we're in the same area," the sleepy boy said, looking at his card. Tetsuya glanced at his card and he was right.

Tetsuya smiled at him. "Yeah! I-It's very exciting!"

"Just don't get in my way," he dismissed.

"I'll b-be sure not to!"

Hi-chan was talking again. "Let's check your targets, yeah!" A few different sized blacked-out images appeared on the screen. "We'll be sprinkling a large number of 'Villains' over the battlefield. And they'll appear in three different varieties, with point values scaled according to difficulty so choose wisely. With you all using your individual Quirks, your goal is to dispatch as many 'Villains' as you can! Rack up that high score, y'all! And you can't attack other competitors directly! That's nasty anti-hero stuff and it's against the rules, ya dig?!

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question!" said a boy, standing up, hand raised.

"Hit it!"

All eyes were drawn to a young male student standing in the front row of the stands - he wore glasses and had a very stern expression. "On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed! If this is an error, then it's a huge embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A's caliber! What is the meaning of this? Such a mistake won't do for Japan's most notable school! And you!" He then pointed and glared to someone with fluffy green hair (Tetsuya wanted to pet it. It reminded him of Yoru's soft fluffy fur. He wanted to see if it'd bounce if he pushed it down...) a few rows behind him. "Yes, you! The one with such unkempt hair! You've been muttering this whole time, unable to sit still for a second... You're distracting! If you think U.A. is some pleasure jaunt, then leave this place at once!"

Tetsuya frowned lightly as the fluffy green boy sank into his seat, cheeks burning from embarrassment as some of the students around him snickered. That was... uncalled for. To berate someone like that in a public space. He did not like the glasses boy very much at that moment but decided to let it go. It's already happened, after all. There was nothing he could do now...

That still didn't mean he liked the boy that much...

Only a little, though.

"Alright, alright, examinee number seven-one-one-one, thanks for your much appreciated segue request!" Hi-chan called out, waving his arms around to calm the teens down and get their attention back on him. "The fourth villain type is worth... zero points! That big guy is just a big gimmick we'll be throwing your way, ya dig? There's one in every battle center, so if I were you, I'd try and avoid that thing. It's not that it can't be beaten, there's just no point to! So, I recommend ya all ignore it and just aim for the top!" He pointed his pointer finger in the air.

"I see." The boy with glasses and dark hair bowed respectfully before sitting back down. "Thank you very much! I apologize for being rude! Please, continue."

"Welp, that's enough from me!" Mic went on. "I'll leave you all with a presentation on the 'school precepts' of this academy of mine! As a certain 'Hero' by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A true Hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life'!" Hi-chan grinned.

Tetsuya knew that grin. Hi-chan got that grin from Sho-chan... Sho-chan gave that grin when he was in sadistic mode... And that sadistic mode was a common occurrence whenever Sho-chan wanted something done a certain way...

The knot of unease began to settle within his stomach.

"Now then... Go beyond! Plus Ultra! And may you all suffer gladly the trials to come!"

And with that, they were allowed to go and change and get ready before they had to gather in their designated exam areas within half an hour. Worry began to wander into his mind as he bit his lip lightly as he changed into his training clothes - a breathable tank top, sweat pants, and his sneakers. His right hand gripped his left wrist lightly.

He could... do this...

There was nothing to worry about...

He could do this...

Everything would work out...

He'd do his best. He had trained for this after all.

Sho-chan would be watching...

He could do this.

Hopefully...

* * *

 **Location: Exam Site C - Ground Alpha, Near U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

Tetsuya was the last to get off the bus that had stopped at Exam Site C, heading towards the giant door that led into the battle center where the other examinees were. It was huge... And there were five others just like it. There was one person with a bird head, a loud teen with shocking red hair, and another with multiple arms.

When he neared, others moving away whenever he got a bit too close, he saw the sleepy boy over there slouching forward a bit, his hands in his pockets. Tetsuya bit his lip, his fingers tapping against each other in uncertainty, unsure if he should go over and say hello. He might not like that, and it could mess up his focus too... But he wanted to say hi. That was when purple eyes noticed him. Tetsuya gave a small wave and deflated when the other turned away.

He guessed he'd just stay there and stretch, to at least help calm his nerves, as he waited for something that was going to define his very future. This was where he was going to show what he had.

This would be it.

Raising to stand, he looked to the right, catching the sleepy boy staring at him amongst many others. All were measuring how much of a threat he could possibly be with his small stature but strange appearance. He stood out a bit amongst the others with his bright hair and gray skin and Tetsuya was pretty sure he was the smallest there...

Well, as they said big things come in small packages.

Tetsuya ignored them in the end, and began to prepare, taking off his shoes - to which he proceeded to leave near the bus - before bending a bit over and began coughing up a heavy black smoke that quickly wrapped around him. He felt the energy course through him, a wonderful and welcoming familiar feeling, feeling his body change and grow a bit. He felt his nails grow longer, turning into something akin to claws as he gained a static-like tear replacing his mouth. His hair gained a bit of a wild touch as he stretched his arms.

"And start!" The sound of a horn drew everyone's attention to a tall observation tower where Hi-chan was. Everyone looked up at him confused. "What's the matter!? There's no such thing as a countdown in a real battle! Go! Now! Run! Ruuunnn!"

And just like that, as he heard people around him attempt to bulldoze each down and get ahead of one another to try to be the first ones to score, he lowered himself into a crouching position, hands on the ground. Launching himself out of the black smoke, he let out a small giggle - it had an echo-like effect, like talking underwater with a mix of other voices so much that one would not be able to pinpoint what the original sounded like - when others stopped short when he passed them. Some even tripped over one another when they caught sight of him. He immediately broke apart from the crowd, all trying to take out the faux villains left and right, jumping right into it, lifting his right knee up high.

Turning his body all the way around in a flip, he lifted his right leg up high and thrusted forward, crashing through the nearest robot like it was butter. He tucked his arms and curled into himself before he hit and rolled along the ground seconds later, catching himself to a stop on all fours. And he repeated that way, kicking through robot after robot as he passed by others who were going after anything and everything. Tetsuya decided to let loose just a little bit. There wasn't any harm in that as he clawed his way through the robot.

Soon enough, Tetsuya found himself running through winding alleyways and streets, using the shadows and darkness for surprise and sneak attacks as he passed by more and more ragged metal corpses and destroyed iron scraps, in search of another target. It was easy to take them down. He didn't keep count of how many he took down, just going one after another, nor the points. He hadn't needed to worry too much about how his Quirk affected them, an easy way to get distracted, after all. The robots were getting taken down one by one quickly everywhere around him and he was unable to get to some of them as they had been taken down by other examinees.

Passing by others, when he couldn't find a robot to take down, he grabbed a few of them, one of them a black haired girl with headphone jacks attached to her earlobes, to get them out of the line of the target from the symphony of " _Target Lock-On! Murder!_ " directed at them. The girl thanked him when he got her to the top of a small building after grabbing her around the waist. He was careful of his touch whenever he grabbed them, throwing the stash of chocolate in his pockets (he was glad he had gone for the zippers ones so they wouldn't get lost during his... rampage) at the surprised, worn-out ones he sucked out more warmth than he had meant too.

Finally, making his way down another alleyway, blending into the shadows like a second blanket, as he heard the sound of stomping when he stopped at the end of the alleyway. Peeking ever so slightly, worrying a bit at how much time there was left - there must not be much left - his eyes widened at the large number of robots littering around in an empty two-lane street. There were no examinees around from what he saw! Lowering himself to the ground, he glanced around and saw a ladder leading to the roof of the building. Using it, he got to the top and overlooked a sea of grey, silver, black, and blinking red lights.

Taking a few steps back, he took a running start to jump down, feeling like he was in zero gravity for a mere second and then he was falling. Spreading out his arms and legs, he curled into himself once more causing himself to fall faster before landing on top of one of the two-point robotic villains, slamming his clawed hand into the top of where its 'eyes' were a few times, breaking it and pulling out colorful wire after colorful wire before it began to go haywire, smashing and shooting at anything and everything. Tetsuya had to duck and hold on for dear life, eyes closing tight as his shoulders tensed and he felt himself fade in and out when a few bullets made their way through him like a ghost. He shivered at the feeling before he was flung off; the out of control robot was finally gunned down. He rolled along the ground, groaning as his back hit against a wall.

That was... definitely going to hurt later.

"Oww..."

Breathing deeply, his head started to feel light. Rubbing the back of it, he let out a small groan at the throb and the slow start of an oncoming headache appeared. But that couldn't stop him. He had to move forward. There wasn't much time left. Slowly getting up, his vision and head swimming around, he kept a hand on the wall to keep himself steady. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths to calm his beating heart and get himself under control when he suddenly heard the two minute mark. Eyes snapping open, he looked up. He had to get moving.

Now!

But then when he was just about to take a step, all of a sudden a boom shook the ground, making him launch forward. He was thankful that he caught himself onto the wall to keep from face planting. A building exploded nearby as a giant robot burst through! It was the Menace of Supreme Death! The worthless robot Hi-chan had talked about earlier - the one worth zero points. Oh, Kami-sama... It was ginormous... And it was heading right toward him...

"Well... shit..."

Turning around, he dashed, speeding up as the Menace of Supreme Death marched forward at him. Some people were running away, not daring to look back, while others were too scared to move and stood there completely in awe, risking their own lives. It stomped on whatever was in its path, not caring for the small still active robots. The robotic Villains were pancakes when the zero-point robot lifted its foot. He ran in an alleyway just in time as its foot almost came down on him. He didn't have enough energy to use his intangibility and there was no way he was going to get squished today!

He raced down the alleyway, knowing he didn't have the time to dilly dally as the zero-point robot lifted and swung an arm, destroying the building. It caused bricks to rain down, a chip hitting his shoulder, the sharp end cutting the skin. He let out a hiss, turning around the corner, spying people running all around him panicking. Why wasn't the time up yet?!

Suddenly, he heard someone let out a curse and snapped his head to the right when he saw the sleepy boy cornered, laying with his back against the wall. He was injured, holding onto his bleeding leg. Two robots surrounded him, guns at the ready. They locked eyes for just a split second and time seemed to slow down as Tetsuya's body moved before his mind could, jumping onto the back of one of the robots. The other saw and pointed its gun at him, ducking and crawling off the robot. He bobbed and weaved between the two, getting them to shoot at each other while he grabbed the sleepy boy around the waist, hoisting him on his back.

"Hold on!" Tetsuya told the boy and jumped before the other could say anything, arms wrapping tightly around his neck as he made their getaway just as the Menace of Supreme Death sought its eyes on him once more. Well... Shit in a handbasket...

The boy on his back hissed in his ear, "Why the hell is it after you?!"

"Don't know!" he answered back, turning a corner and grabbing onto the back of the fainted grape boy's shirt he nabbed along the way before he met certain death under the Menace of Supreme Death's foot. He may have been rude to Tetsuya, but Tetsuya wasn't a monster. He'd never want the Menace of Supreme Death to get that gunk under his foot only to have to clean it later. Anyway, as the Menace of Supreme Death neared them, a bullhorn quickly and unexpectedly signaled the end of the exam; Tetsuya came to a slow stop, his legs burning and shaking as the robot had ceased all movement, shutting down completely and standing rigid.

It was finally over...

"Ugh..." Tetsuya groaned as he fell forward, letting the grape boy go, landing on his chest with a hard grunt. The weight from the sleepy boy on his back remained for a moment before it was off of him after what seemed like forever and he was free to roll over onto his own back. That was so much better. He looked up at the sky. It was such a bright blue and the clouds looked so puffy and soft, it looked like cotton candy! His stomach growled on cue.

Wonderful...

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the energy inside and he felt himself shift slowly but surely back to normal.

That was much better.

He never noticed the purple eyes from the boy next to him watching him, a bit fascinated to watch black smoke rise from him and turn back to the small print from before, before he decided it was too much effort and laid back, closing his own eyes.

* * *

 **Location: Bus Riding Back To U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

Tetsuya let out a sigh of relief as he finally felt the bus begin to move, the last person taking their seat. He leaned back in his seat, legs spread out as much as they could with the limited space he had. He was so happy when Recovery Girl had finally made her rounds in their exam site, healing people up, he and the sleepy boy included. He was glad the sleepy boy was going to be okay; he had been worried about him. He had also felt so much better after that and he'd be even more so after he got some food in himself. For now at least.

There was going to be a break when they got back and then off to the written portion of the exam and then back home.

Yippee...

Golden eyes looked out the window, head low on the headrest of the seat, watching the brown and green scenery slowly pass by before the bus began to pick up speed. To say that he had been so nervous in the beginning was an understatement. But now the battle was over, though not the war, and he was glad about his results. Even if he didn't keep count, he likely did a nice job... Hopefully...

He'd just have to wait and see how things went after the writing portion was over and got his results like everyone else.

"Hey..."

Tetsuya slowly turned his head from the passing scenery to stare into half-open deep purple eyes. He had been the only one brave enough to sit with him, though clearly affected by his Quirk, he still remained. Even if it was for convenience or just out of pure luck, it made his heart swell with happiness. The others hadn't wanted to sit with him either way. He gave the sleepy boy a small smile. "Hi..."

The sleepy boy stared at him for a few before looking away, slouching in his seat and grumbled something.

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks," he said louder, his voice just above a whisper. "For helping me... when I was in a bind..."

"Hmmm..."

"You didn't have too..."

"I know."

"But you did."

"That I did..."

The sleepy boy's eyes narrowed. "Why? Was it because of what I did earlier?"

"No." Tetsuya slowly shook his head, the headache from before, though smaller, still there. "You needed help... so I helped. That what a Hero does, after all." Tetsuya's smile grew a bit bigger.

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip; Tetsuya could see the school coming closer and closer. Finally, they arrived at school once more. (It really was such a huge place...) The students got up one by one after another, heading out when the bus's door opened. He followed after the sleepy boy as they stepped off the bus, noting people had scattered to wherever they wanted to go - some back to the high school while others wandered over to familiar faces, asking how their own exam went.

Tetsuya let out a small yawn before moving forward to his destination, intent on getting something to eat while he could during their break before the writing portion of the exam began. He was surprised, however, when the sleepy boy fell into step with him, slouching a bit over with his hands in his pockets.

"Hitoshi Shinsou."

Tetsuya gave the other a bright grin. "It's nice to meet you, Shinsou-san. I'm Tetsuya Kurosawa."

"I'm not some old man." Shinsou-san scowled at him. "Just call me Hitoshi."

"Okay, Hitoshi-kun."

"Just. Hitoshi." Hitoshi grumbled.

"Okay, just Hitoshi..."

Hitoshi's eyes narrowed as Tetsuya giggled. "Tch. Just do whatever you want."

* * *

 **Location: Train Ride Back To Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: February 26, 20XX – Monday**

The last rays of the late slowly setting sun fell over the horizon, slanting through the train's windows, casting the train car and the surrounding city in a mixture of rich hues of red blended with oranges, purples, and crimsons. It was reflected in the windows of the passing building, creating an interesting effect for Tetsuya. The clouds had gained a glint of a mixture of warm colors. A vibration from his phone took his gaze away from the beautiful sky, looking down and unlocking his phone after turning it on. He had received a few text messages from the group chat.

 _Tetsuya: What do you want for dinner?_

 _Sho-chan: Tonkatsu._

 _Hi-chan: Gyudon!_

 _Sho-chan: No._

 _Hi-chan: Ehhhh..._

 _Hi-chan:_ (ಠ_ಠ) _Why not?!_

 _Sho-chan: No._

 _Hi-chan: You're just going to eat all the meat if kitten makes that, Shota! Just make some Gyudon! \^0^/_

 _Sho-chan: Tonkatsu._

 _Tetsuya: Tonkatsu it is then._

 _Hi-chan: Muuuu... TT^TT_

 _Sho-chan: Hizashi doesn't get any._

 _Hi-chan: Eh?! What?! No!_ ┻━┻ ︵ ヽ(°□°ヽ)

 _Tetsuya: Okay~!_

 _Sho-chan: You have your own food._

 _Hi-chan: But kitten's food is better!_

 _Tetsuya: ^^_

Tetsuya let out an amused chuckle, watching the two bicker back and forth over the phone knowing full well they were in the same room, likely even sitting next to each other. Exiting out, he glanced at his contacts, a smile on his lips to see another added. Hitoshi's number, affectionately dubbed as Sleepy Boy on his phone. They had traded numbers after everything had been over.

Clicking the power button, he turned off his phone, eyes turned back to look out the window.

The future sure looked bright...

* * *

 **Author's Note: And we are done. Tetsuya had finally done the entrance exam and I couldn't be prouder of my baby! He fought so well and did so much in so little time! He is one step closer to becoming the Hero he was meant to be! He even made a friend! They traded numbers! Ahhhhh! Hitoshi you be good to Tetsuya, you hear?**

 **Good.**

 **A long chapter for all too. It would have been out last weekend (or was it the weekend before that?) if not for me catching up on anime and homework (along with reading and drawing on the side... Ahahahaha...) clogging up all my time! Trust me. I had a lot of anime to catch up on, especially with the last two seasons. I've been... neglecting to watch them in favor of other things... Any who! Here's the chapter filled with some cuteness, a bit of rudeness, and cats.**

 **And food.**

 **And... other things.**

 **Go and see if you can find the reference I made in here.**

 **Drawing Time! This was my Valentine's Day drawing all the way back from February (yeah. I know it's the end of March...) which I also turned into a YCH so check both of them out. (And maybe buy one...) They're packed full of tooth decaying sweetness and cuteness that it's not even funny! There are also two other pics that have to do with Tetsuya's parents so go check them out. _(Just remove the spaced and it should work.)_**

 **Link 1: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Tetsuya-Kurosawa-Happy-Valentine-s-Day-830442982**

 **Link 2: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Tetsuya-Kurosawa-A-Family-s-Love-835447437**

 **Link 3: www._deviantart._com/_nightmarezanez/_art/_Tetsuya-Kurosawa-In-Remembrance-835704137**

 **If you liked the chapter, why not leave a review and tell me what you think? ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: ウィルトライラック - Wilted Lilac**

 **Rating: T**

 **Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 44, Favs: 30, Reviews: 16, Communities: 7, Views: 2588**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Orange-Red Nasturtium**

* * *

 _ **Orange-Red Nasturtium (Tropaeolum Polyphyllum):** This flower is native to Central and South America and was first brought to Spain in 1569 by botanist Nicolás Monardes, who wrote a lot about the plants and animals he discovered during his trip to South America. Its name was given by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus as it's red color reminded him of blood-stained ancient Roman armor and weapons with the leaves resembling shields. The plant is very resilient and can handle a lot of conditions hence why it's cultivated worldwide. It has medical properties being used to treat illnesses and conditions such as sore throats, coughs, and colds. It had strong ties to combat and war and so ends symbolizing victory in battle, success, and conquest._

* * *

 **Location: Living Room, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: March 5, 20XX – Monday**

It was a quiet, sunny day. Sunlight shined through the window, the curtains drawn back to allow the natural light to seep in, reflecting onto several objects in the simply decorated living room. Tetsuya sat at the table, letting out a sigh of contentment, happy as Yoru purred softly next to him as he rested his cheek against his right hand, fingers clenched into a fist. His silvery-white hair was tied back into a high tight ponytail, bobby pins clipping his bangs out of his eyes. He gently flipped through the old worn cookbook sitting on the table before him, looking for the next recipe to try. Though he had inherited it, among many others, from his mom all those years ago, there were some recipes in there he had yet to try.

Absentmindedly, he wondered if she and his dad knew what he should make next. A silly question but he liked to think they still watched over him from time to time, showing even a tiny sign for something he wanted to know such as if the results were going to arrive or not. It's been about a week since the exam; Sho-chan and Hi-chan had mentioned they should get here any time now. Tetsuya knew better than to ask about anything pertaining to the exam or his results as he knew he wouldn't get any answers from them except they would be proud of him no matter what they were. The thought of that made Tetsuya smile as he flipped another page before petting Yoru for a bit. She loved it when he scratched her in certain areas - something about having the perfect nails for that or whatever Hi-chan mentioned when he was younger.

He was just glad he wasn't the only one with a knot twisting in his gut as Hitoshi was just as nervous. They had exchanged a few texts throughout the week; Hitoshi liked to use those emojis or emoticons that Hi-chan liked to use a lot, so Tetsuya was quite happy to figure out what he meant on a few things when they talked. (Tetsuya was like Sho-chan a lot. He'd usually use them to express when he was smiling or giving the deadpan stare when Hi-chan failed to make a joke.) He was so excited to call him a friend. The thought of that made him smile and feel warm and bubbly in his otherwise cold insides.

Just like how he was smiling now.

Glancing up, he saw that it was time to get the mail. Getting up, he stretched his arms up in the air, letting out a satisfied groan as he felt the muscles in his body loosen from feeling a bit stiff after sitting for so long. He pushed in his chair and closed the cookbook, still unable to find a recipe so he hoped to find one later; he gave a small smile to Yoru. She gave him a soft meow, eyes alighting with something akin to the puppy look, sad he had stopped petting her.

"I'm just going to go get the mail, so I'll be back in a few moments," Tetsuya chuckled, pulling out the bobby pins and the hair tie from his hair, everything falling back into place with a bit of help from his hairbrush.

Going towards the front door, he put on his shoes and grabbed the mailbox key before he went downstairs to the first level where the mailboxes for the whole building were. Opening it, he grabbed the few letters there, likely spam or someone asking Sho-chan about something, and came across a manila envelope with his name on the front. He frowned when he looked at it before flipping it over, eyes widening at the symbol on the red wax sealing it. He raced back inside, accidentally slamming the door with more force than necessary startling him and Yoru. She gave a warning hiss, glaring at him as she sat on the table after jumping about five feet in the air.

"Ah..." He glanced at the door then at Yoru, walking towards her. "Sorry... I didn't mean to do that... I just got excited because it's here," he exclaimed, holding up the manila envelope to show the fluffy cat. "My results are here! They're here!" With a look from her to open the thing already, he let out an amused huff before turning his attention back to the envelope. With fingers trembling with anticipation, he opened it up and pulled out a folded packet of papers, unfolding them as he set down the envelope on the table.

Tetsuya began flipping through the pages and pamphlets, reading its contents with an excited grin before he finally came upon his results.

 ** _EXAMINATION RESULTS FOR KUROSAWA, TETSUYA_**

 _ACADEMIC EVALUATION: 86/100 [MIN SCORE REQ: 60]_

 _PRACTICAL EVALUATION: 68 POINTS_

 _VILLAIN POINTS: 47_

 _RESCUE POINTS: 21_

 _JUDGMENT: **PASS**_

He... He passed...

"I actually passed!"

As Tetsuya cheered, Yoru spotted something that was still left in the manila envelope. As one to cause mischief whenever she wanted, she jumped on it and on whatever was left inside. A tiny projector machine fell out onto the table. Yoru, eyes alight with curiosity, swatted at it once, knocking it to the ground with a hard thud. An immersed Tetsuya let out a soft gasp, whipping his head around to look at Yoru who sat on the table, looking like the picture of innocence, then at a small machine on the ground with a bit of a confused look.

About to reach for it and take a closer look, it flickered for a few moments and suddenly a projected image emerged from it. He blinked as a screen appeared and he heard someone doing a mic test.

 _"Am I on screen!?"_ A very muscular Asian man with v-like blonde hair had said, gracing Tetsuya with a huge smile. It was... All Might... Were his teeth always so white?

 _"Tetsuya Kurosawa-kun!"_ His voice boomed, stepping back to reveal he was wearing a yellow suit. _"I am here to inform you of the results of your entrance exam into U.A.! By now you must be wondering why the great All Might is telling you this! Right? Well, it's because I am going to be teaching here! Teaching soon-to-be-students such as you!"_ He had his hand held out in front of him, pointing at the screen.

"Wait... Really?!" Eyebrows furrowing a bit, he frowned distinctly and remembered the look - I _t wasn't of disdain, hate, or anything like that but cautious, like he reminded the large, muscular man of something he didn't want to remember. It was laughed off. A fluke to the others. But Tetsuya saw it..._ \- the man had given him all those years ago.

He had really seen it. It was never mentioned though. Who would believe him? The word of a little kid whose Quirk caused others to fear him instinctively against the Symbol of Peace?

 _'The Symbol of Peace would never do that.'_

 _'He'd be able to overcome it instantly.'_

And yet...

 _ **(Survival of the fittest...)**_

He shook his head, leaning away from such thoughts, realizing the prerecorded message was still going on.

 _"You must be so surprised right now! And understandably so! But you've heard me correctly! You have gotten into U.A.'s Heroic Department!"_ He made an extravagant motion at the announcement before his expression turned serious, making Tetsuya's knees wobble in surprise, sending him sliding to the floor as he stared at the projection. " _You received a wonderful score on the written exam but that is not all! You may think that to score, you simply had to fight the robots but there was much, much more to the exam than simply that! You rescued others when you did not have to in those final moments, putting others' lives before your own! You did as any Hero would! How could we not give credit for something like that? The answer is: we do! You should be proud of yourself, Tetsuya Kurosawa-kun! As of right now..."_ All Might grinned with pride, pausing for dramatic effect. _"...you are now a U.A. student and a Hero of tomorrow! Congratulations! I will hope to see you and the rest of the new students soon! Goodbye for now!"_ With a final wave, the connection was cut off.

Crawling over, he picked up the tiny projector machine, sitting back and cradled it in both hands. He... He really did it... Tetsuya still couldn't believe it... Looking up at Yoru, he gave her a bright grin, eyes blurry as they grew wet. "I really got into U.A..." He let out a stifled laugh, tears seeping down his cheeks. He leaned backward, laying on his back as his limbs splayed out around him.

Yoru jumped down, walking onto his stomach, causing Tetsuya to let out a soft huff. He let the tiny projector machine slide out of his grip; it clattered softly onto the floor. She meowed at him, worried. Sniffling, he used one hand to wipe away the tears even if they kept on going, the other petting Yoru, her soft fur feeling nice under his touch as she put her paws on his chest. "I'm okay... Really... Happy tears, Yoru..." She meowed at him again. "Ah..." Her front paws walked forward a bit, laying down as she butted her head against his chin.

They stayed like that for a while, just basking in happiness, until the front door was unlocked and opened.

"Kitten! We're home~!" Hi-chan exclaimed before he gave out a wheeze.

"This isn't your home, Hizashi," Sho-chan grumbled, most likely elbowing the other in the gut as usual. "You've got your own."

"Ah... But... Sho-chan..." Hi-chan said between gasps for air. "I'm home... wherever you are..."

Tetsuya held his head up, letting out a giggle as he watched the two banter and tease like an old married couple. Sho-chan's scowl deepened but his eyes were warm before they went back to their usual tired expression. "Just get inside already before I leave you out here. And stop calling me that." He walked past the still down man, walking into the living room after taking off his shoes. Sho-chan stopped dead when he saw Tetsuya laying on the ground, giving him a raised eyebrow.

As Hi-chan regained his breath, standing and closing the door behind him, Tetsuya had rolled onto his hands and knees, Yoru jumping off of him. He got up and jumped onto Sho-chan, wrapping his arms around him. "I passed! I got into U.A.!"

He saw Hi-chan's eyes widen before a big grin spread out on his face as he felt Sho-chan wrap his arms around him. Hi-chan gave him congratulations after congratulations as Sho-chan muttered into his ear, "I never doubted you, Tetsuya."

Golden eyes widened a bit before they closed shut, both hugging each other just a bit tighter. It meant so much to hear the elder man say that.

So much...

When he pulled back, he beamed up at him, giggling as he felt Sho-chan's hand pat the top of his head. (Tetsuya felt the warmth seep into him from the physical contact, drowning out the cold just a little bit. It was Sho-chan's warmth... The best kind...) "Good job." Sho-chan ruffled his hair a bit more, messing it up when he did it a bit harder.

"Hey!"

Sho-chan let out a snort, lowering his arm and walked past him. Tetsuya watched him leave for his room to set his bag in there with a pout before turning his attention onto Hi-chan. "Congrats, kid. I knew you could do it!"

"Thank you."

"Ah..." Hi-chan sighed dramatically, swinging an arm to press it against his forehead. "My little baby kitten is growing up so fast..." He even had the nerve to wipe away a fake tear.

Tetsuya narrowed his eyes, calling out, "Sho-chan, can we get takeout tonight?"

"Sure," Sho-chan answered after a few moments.

Hi-chan clapped. "Ooooo! Good idea, kitten! What do you think we should get? It's your night so you get to choose!"

He gave the Pro Hero a bright grin before turning on the heel of his foot and walked towards the takeout menu drawer. "Hi-chan said he's paying for it too!"

"Eh?" Hi-chan blinked. "What?"

Sho-chan hummed, coming back out with a smirk. "How nice of you, Hizashi. Kitten, make sure to pick something good."

"Kay!"

That evening, they celebrated well into the night as Hi-chan wept over his very thin wallet.

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: March 17, 20XX – Saturday**

Tetsuya was laying on his bed, relaxing before he had to head off to dreamland in a few hours. He glanced at his phone again, waiting for an answer from his friend. He had been so excited to talk to him about the latest news on the latest cat toys that were currently in development. Hitoshi's favoritism for the feline almost rivaled Sho-chan. No, really. It almost did. Hitoshi wanted him to send pictures of Yoru (or really anything cat related) daily. It was rather amusing to watch the other fond over Yoru like she was a queen. He loved her with all his heart, yes, but Sho-chan already did that enough. She really didn't need another doing that. Her ego was big enough...

As if reading his thoughts, the said cat let out a meow, demanding he pet her. He obliged, setting down his phone with a smile, giggling when she licked his hand. "Such a pretty kitty you are. Yes, you are."

He turned to look up at the ceiling, sighing softly as Yoru curled up on his chest. One of his hands continued to pet through her soft hair absentmindedly, the other grabbing his phone when it buzzed.

 _Sleepy Boy: Fine._

He sighed. The reply was just like the rest. There were no more emojis or emoticons during the last few weeks - it felt like that was going to continue on. Hitoshi has been kinda distant lately, not really answering his messages, beginning when they had exchanged their results with each other. Tetsuya had been so excited to hear his friend had gotten in as well. They could meet up with each other and hang out maybe at lunch and even walk home together a bit. They lived pretty far from one another, a reason why they didn't really hang out other than video chat - which had stopped as well.

Hitoshi's messages felt cold like he was mad at Tetsuya about something. Had he done something? Tetsuya hoped he hadn't. He really wanted to be friends with Hitoshi; he didn't want the other to leave... Tetsuya had expressed his worry to the other and even apologized for whatever he had done but Hitoshi had said he hadn't done anything.

That didn't feel like the case.

He sighed.

He really hoped that whatever was happening with his friend would pass. Maybe he'd be able to ask Hitoshi when he saw him in person. He hoped so...

He really did...

* * *

 **Location: Tetsuya's Room, Shota's Apartment, Fifth Floor of Sakura Apartments, South-Western Hachiōji Ward, Southern Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: March 23, 20XX – Friday**

God, he was tired...

This was the fourth night in a row where Shota barely got any sleep. Maybe two or three hours in total making his brain feel fuzzy and at the last draining five percent. It was pounding too, telling him he needed to sleep. It wasn't uncommon for this to happen to him, but he still hated it when it happened. It made his kitten worry so much. He hated doing that even more. Shota Aizawa, bleary-eyed and unshaven, let out a deep sigh as he silently closed the front door behind him, locking it absentmindedly.

It was well past midnight, almost three am, and he was just glad to finally be home. His Hero patrol was brutal for the last few days. He had to stake out a drug ring that got way out of hand.

He sighed again, shoulders slouching as he trudged towards his room, passing by Tetsuya's when he stopped and backtracked a few steps to see light illuminating under the crack of the door. Why was he still up? Kids his age should be sleeping around this time. Tetsuya knew not to stay up too late, or he'd turn out to be a bit snappy the next morning. He usually was when he didn't get enough.

Knocking lightly, Shota waited for the other to answer and when he didn't receive any he grasped the doorknob and opened the door mid-yawn. "Hey, kitten. Why're you..." He trailed off, blinking when he raised an eyebrow and saw Tetsuya was asleep at his desk, his hair lopsided as he laid his cheek on top of some papers. One of his hands was holding a pencil while the other was hanging limp at his side. There were papers scattered all over the place, crumpled paper balls falling out of the overfilled trash can and littering the floor around Tetsuya.

The light had been coming from the lamp on the desk. Huffing, the sides of his mouth twitched upward fondly. "Kitten..."

Black eyes glanced upward at the top of the cat tower to a pair of hooded lamp-like eyes with a ring of molten gold around the expanse of black staring right back at him. "Yoru," he mumbled, nodding to the cat. Her tail twitched, flicking back and forth as she let out an almost silent meow at him. "I take it he's been like this for a while now?" The look she gave him was all he needed to know. He rolled his eyes before he looked back down at his kitten.

Lifting up his head, he pulled the pencil from the limp grip and placed it on the desk before he pulled out the rolling chair and easily picked him up. Tetsuya's head ended up lulling on his shoulder before he laid him on his bed, pulling the blanket over him. The kitten shifted a little bit, mumbling something unintelligible, before rolling on his side and grabbing a pillow, hugging it close to his body. "Brat..."

Going back over to the desk to turn off the light and pick up a few of the papers, Shota glanced over and blinked. Tetsuya had a lot of different designs for his Hero Outfit... His lips quirked into a smirk, chuckling lightly at the clear influence he had on some of the designs with how similar they were to his own. Shaking his head, he looked away before he could see any more, turning off the lamp with a click. He knew his kitten would want to surprise him and so he'd allow himself to be.

The kitten was already chosen to be in his class anyway. The smirk was back. This was going to be very, very fun.

"Good night, kitten," he grunted quietly. "You too, cat," he added after the other jumped onto Tetsuya's bed, curling up on the pillow beside his head. Shota closed the door behind him and went off to his room, plopping face-first into the bed without a second thought

His kitten was really growing up…

* * *

 **Author's Note: And there we have it, people, the results are in and Tetsuya has passed with flying colors! He's going to U.A.! Yaattaa! I mean we all knew he was all going but still… He got in and that's all that matters. ^^ Poor Tetsuya... Hitoshi... Oh, Hitoshi... I wonder what went wrong...**

 **I hope you enjoyed it because the next chapter will be when Tetsuya finally arrives at U.A. itself. I wonder what's going to happen and who he is going to meet and how everything will turn out in the end! Leave your theories in the comments below!**

 **Read and review, it fuels my soul and inspiration.**

 **Also, I've finally made a discord server for my stories so join if you all wanna chat! _(Just remove the spaces and it should work. ^^)_**

 **https:_/** **_/** **_discord._gg/_wc7FT8Q**


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** **ウィルトライラック** \- **Wilted Lilac  
Rating: T  
Summary: "Pl-please don't run away! Don't b-be afraid of me!" In the winter, flowers must wilt in order to survive and blossom once more when the next spring comes. Tetsuya wanted to be a Hero deemed worthy. It was his dream. But how could he be one when all he could do was suck out the warmth and life out of the people he wanted to protect?**

 **Current: Followers: 54, Favs: 39, Reviews: 18, Communities: 7, Views: 3131**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or any other material used within this story. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. Any other materials used are owned by their respective owners/creators. There was no profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.**

 **Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades**

* * *

 **Now To Answer Some Reviews:**

 **ArchivesofaDreamer- CH 1: You know, a 'Jack Frost' Quirk would have been interesting to tackle with all the lore is behind the legend. (Though I'd like would have gone the Yuki-onna route.) But sadly, that is not Tetsuya's Quirk. If you want to find out more about it then I suggest checking out his profile on DeviantArt. ^^ It's where I have all my OCs currently. CH 8: It's understandable. I hope you'll pick up the story someday in the future and give it another try. I am glad you read it though and were honest. ^^ Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Hydrangeas**

* * *

 ** _Hydrangeas (Hydrangea Macrophylla):_** _Often referred to as Ajisai, it was first cultivated in Japan. It is native to Asia and America. The color of hydrangeas, except for white hydrangeas, depends on the acidity of the soil, and bloom in a variety of different formations. Its name comes from the Greek "hydor," meaning water, and "angos," meaning jar or vessel as it blooms during the rainy season from June to July. Legend has it that a Japanese emperor gifted blue hydrangeas to the family of the woman he loved in order to make up for neglecting her in favor of business. In Europe, hydrangeas didn't appear until 1736, when a colonist brought a North American varietal to England. There is an overwhelming consensus that this 4th wedding anniversary flower. This flower symbolizes heartfelt emotions and can be used to express gratitude for being understood. However, in its negative sense hydrangea symbolizes frigidity and heartlessness._

* * *

 **Location: Classroom 1-A, U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: April 9, 20XX – Monday**

The blossoming of the cherry blossoms outside were the first signs of spring. Birds were singing, chirping away as Tetsuya made his way to U.A. - the first day officially commencing - a combination of excitement and nervousness mixing in his gut. It wasn't that he was scared he'd get lost - he had gone to the school a handful of times when Sho-chan couldn't leave him at home alone in his younger days for whatever reason - so it was easy to navigate to U.A. and locating his class.

1-A.

He got into the Hero Department... (It seemed a little of the shock was still there. Class 1-A of all things!) The top of the first years got into this class! The next generation of Heroes for the future! Only thirty-six kids would have passed the Entrance Exam to get into the Hero Course, plus four students who got in on recommendations... So, there would be twenty kids each in classes 1-A and 1-B. These guys are the best of the best to become Heroes... If they stayed was another story...

And he was part of that Department.

Sho-chan was going to be his homeroom teacher... (Was that even possible? Tetsuya thought there was some law that prevented parents from teaching their children to prevent favoritism or something.)

And it made sense for Tetsuya to have the man as a Homeroom Teacher... Tetsuya glanced down at his hand, sharpened black fingernails shined under the light (he had tried filing them down last night (he wanted to make a good first impression!) but that was a bust - they just returned to their natural sharpened state) before he stared forward once more at the enormous door with his class number on it, his hand going forward to grip the door handle.

It towered over him.

Like everything and _everyone_ around him.

Tetsuya absently wondered if he was going to be the smallest in the class... And maybe Hitoshi would be in the class! He hoped! He really, really did! The other would become an amazing Hero one day! Tetsuya just knew it! But on the off chance they weren't in the same class, they could be in the same course and still have classes together and eat lunch together and hang out! He really wanted to hang out with Hitoshi, and he wanted to introduce the other boy to Yoru! Hitoshi already loved her pictures! He still commented on them even if the other wasn't really talking to him...

"Excuse me."

He missed talking with Hitoshi...

Tetsuya shook his head. That wasn't the thing to think about right now! He had to focus! This was his first day, and he had to make a good first impression! But... What would they think of him? A tiny boy who didn't belong in the Hero Course?

"Hello?"

One that made everyone around him cold and uncomfortable... His new classmates would surely dislike him... There was no reason to, but his Quirk had caused lesser (and more extreme) reactions than that.

But maybe...

"Hello...?"

Just maybe he'd be able to make at least one friend in there...

"Are you alright?"

Golden eyes widened, sucking in a breath of realization that someone had been trying to get his attention. Body going stiff for a moment, he forcefully released his grip on the door handle, easily shaking away the faint, thin layer of ice that had encased it. Turning his head to the right, he first caught a white elegant handkerchief that had an intricately embroidered edge and then the dainty hand that led to a fairly tall teenage girl - a good head taller than him - with black hair styled in a spiky high ponytail with a large strand hanging down on the right side of her face. Looking up higher, he caught worried onyx eyes staring at him.

They reminded him of a cat. They were so pretty...

"Um... Did... Did you uh... say something to me?" Tetsuya asked, standing up a bit straighter as he looked between her and the handkerchief. Why was she offering it to him?

"I had asked if you were alright. You looked a bit panicked and about to cry," she answered. There was a trace of nervousness then. "I wanted to see if you'd need a handkerchief."

"Oh... Um..." He raised his hand to the handkerchief. "Th-thank you..." Grabbing it, he was unable to stop their fingers from brushing up against one another. The handkerchief slipping from his grasp as it lazily floated to the floor, he instantly felt the effects happen. He felt a sense of warmth suddenly enter inside of him and rest at the pit of his gut. It felt...

Inwardly shaking his head, he watched the girl snatch her hand away quickly, cradling it against her chest within the grasp of her other hand. Her eyes widened, staring at him as she took a step back.

Oh no...

Nononononononono- _What had he done?!_

 ** _(What must happen to survive...)_**

Tetsuya bowed, eyes twisting shut. "I'm so s-sorry! I didn't m-mean to touch you or make you feel that! I-I really d-didn't!" Not even in the classroom and he already screwed up. Good job, Tetsuya. "Please believe m-me!"

"What... do you mean?"

"Well... It's my Quirk," he began to explain, slowly rising but unable to look at her. "One of the effects is that when I t-touch someone it takes their p-positive feelings... And well..." His voice quietened at the end. He risked looking up at her, asking, "Are... Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Just... shocked." She gave him a light frown, eyes alight with wary curiosity. "Can you not control your Quirk? Is that why it feels so cold around you?"

"Y-yeah" He nodded. "I try to control it the best I can... but it happens automatically when I t-touch others..."

"Well, there are plenty of people who can't control their Quirk so there's nothing to be sorry about."

"B-but-"

She smiled at him. "You're fine. There's nothing to be nervous about. I can see there had been no malicious intent, so everything is okay."

He bent down, picking up the handkerchief and handed it back to her. "I'm s-sorry for getting your hm... handkerchief dirty... I-I can wash it and give it back to you tomorrow, i-if you don't mind waiting!"

"I don't mind that." She nodded in confirmation.

"Also!" He rummaged in his tan shoulder bag, setting the handkerchief inside before grabbing a small Hersey bar. He handed it over to her, careful to not touch her. "Chocolate helps negate what you're feeling r-right now... They can l-last awhile..." He watched her eat the piece of candy, asking after a few moments as he watched her savor it, "Do you um... feel any better?"

She nodded. "I do. Thank you."

"Un..."

"Oh my!" She gasped in surprise, expression akin to one remembering something important. "I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu, I shall be in your care from now on as it seems we will be in the same class."

"I'm T-T-Tetsuya Kurosawa. It's n-nice to meet you, Yaoyorozu-san," Tetsuya finally introduced himself. "I'll be in your care too..."

Yaoyorozu-san gave him another, this time much warmer, smile. "Shall we go in then?"

"S-sure..."

He really wasn't sure if he really wanted to go in... But he had no other choice. He _needed_ to go inside! He wanted to do this! This was the first step towards his future! He had to do this!

Yaoyorozu-san opened the door to the classroom with confidence, stepping aside to let Tetsuya in. He closed it behind him, glancing around to see there were two other students - one with two different hair and eye colors sitting in the right near the back - and was immediately greeted by the other one. Tetsuya glanced around for a moment, catching the large classroom size with a chalkboard in the front, behind a teacher's desk, which had a seating chart already on it.

"Ah, two fellow students! It is nice to make your acquaintances. My name is Tenya Iida and I look forward to working alongside you as future Heroes!" Iida-san said, using his hands in a semi-chopping motion as he spoke. He wore rectangular glasses - they shined brightly under the classroom's overhead lights - and had dark, neat hair combed to the side. He held out his hand to Yaoyorozu-san first as Tetsuya's shoulders hunched a bit, nervous at his suddenness.

"Agreed." Yaoyorozu-san shook his hand. "I am Momo Yaoyorozu, Iida-kun. I will be in your care from now on!"

Iida-san grinned, standing to attention. "I hope we can have a wonderful and educational time together as well on this path of Heroism!"

"Of course." She smiled at him, nodding before she excused herself.

Tetsuya watched her go and find her seat. He wished he could go with her when he froze like a deer in headlights when Iida-san set his dark blue eyes on him.

"Oh... Um..." Tetsuya shrunk down and into himself, hands subconsciously gripping the strap to his bag. It tightened when the other stuck out his hand.

"I look forward to working along with you as well, fellow future Hero!" Iida-san exclaimed, his smile going a bit stiff when Tetsuya didn't go for his handshake, lowering it back to his side.

"S-same... I'm Tetsuya Kurosawa... It's n-" Tetsuya froze, stepping back when the other leaned closer to him. His back hit the door when Iida-san stared at his face, frowning.

Though small in size, Tenya felt something off - immensely wrong - about the boy straight away. He felt something swell inside him, a primal instinct to run away emerging the longer he stared at the smaller male - he came to Tenya's shoulders! - and he hated feeling that way. The feeling in his gut was going off that this boy was bad news as well. His gut was never wrong. This fear! It must be due to him! What gave him the right to do this to Tenya Iida?! What sort of Hero made others afraid of them? How could one become a Hero with a Quirk like that? He needed to be sure that the boy, for sure a troublemaker at his old school, knew that it was wrong for him to use his Quirk, Tenya assumed, to get his way in life! That was unacceptable!

And why was it suddenly so cold?!

Pushing up his glasses, he told the other, "You better watch yourself, Tetsuya Kurosawa." Tenya would keep a close eye on this one! One toe out of line and Tenya would make sure the other knew the consequences of such actions. "I don't know what sort of Quirk you have or how you use it to get your way, but it won't work on me. It is unacceptable! We are in one of the top academies in the country and you should be ashamed of yourself. We are here to become Pro Heroes. I will not allow you to sully U.A.'s or this future class's good name."

"I... I-I..." Kurosawa was shaking, most likely from anger from being told off right away. Iida-san couldn't see his eyes with those bangs hiding them so he couldn't be too sure but with how the other was tightening his knuckles, Kurosawa must not be used to others telling him off.

Tenya didn't let the other finish. "If you have any self-respect then control your Quirk. And on that point-"

Kurosawa exclaimed, raising his voice, "I-I'm sorry!" Tenya blinked in surprise. Did he get through to the other so quickly? Why did it get even colder around Kurosawa just now? "I can't c-control it like that! It's always like t-this and I can't help it!" The troublemaker went through his bag before slapping something into Tenya's chest, catching it before it could fall to the ground. Before he could tell Kurosawa how rude he was being, something that was very unbecoming of a future Hero, he continued speaking in a quiet voice this time, "Chocolate helps negate the effects. Again... I-I'm sorry and I'll try and watch myself in the f-future..." Tenya frowned when Kurosawa ducked his head and walked off before he could get another word in, finding his assigned seat. His attention was pulled away from the other, about to go over to give another lecture, when the door slammed open with a bang.

The white-haired boy sat down in his seat, assigned number nineteen, after setting his bag on top of his new desk. He lowered his head on it, wrapping his arms around his head. As he did that, he never saw the glances from the other two students inside the classroom, one filled with worry and the other mild curiosity before their gaze turned back to look at whatever was on their phone.

Great...

Just great...

What a wonderful way to start his first day here.

Letting out a quiet sniffle, he ignored the slowly increasing volume of sounds around him, mind too numb to really think of anything, until his stomach decided it wanted food. It rumbled a bit, so he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he took in the sudden amount of people, his new classmates, around him. As he grabbed a small bag of homemade cookies - small white sugar cookies shaped like stars - from his bag, he watched as a bubbly pink-skinned girl with short, fluffy, and unruly darker pink hair hop from person to person as two blonds, one with a long tail and another with rather spiky hair, sat in the second row with a red-eyed, red-haired male to his right. In front of him, there was a head of black feathers for hair, styled in an upward fashion. As if sensing Tetsuya's stare, the other turned their head, revealing a yellow beak, and thin, red eyes stared deeply at him.

Tetsuya paused in munching on his food. "Cookie?" he offered. The other shook his head, eyes narrowing at him suspiciously, before turning back around. Tetsuya sighed, shoulders slumping and biting on another cookie.

"Are you okay?" Turning to look to his right, Tetsuya saw Yaoyorozu-san watching him, and the boy in front of her was glancing at him over his shoulder. He was reasonably tall; his reserved heterochromatic eyes - the left was a stunning cold turquoise as the right was a dark brown-gray similar to that of burnt ash - were watching his every move. There was a burn scar on the left side of his face that told a story. Tetsuya felt distant phantom pains from the scar on his shoulder the longer he stared.

"I'm alright," he mumbled, shaking the bag of cookies up and down in mild entertainment. "Wo-would either of you like some cookies?"

"Sure," Yaoyorozu-san thanked him with a smile, nodding after the male took some who also gave him a silent nod of thanks.

Golden eyes watched as his new female classmate, the male already having turned around, ate one of the cookies. She gave a hum, swallowing what was inside her mouth. "These are very good, Kurosawa-san. Did you make them yourself?"

"Yeah, they're made from an old f-family piece."

"Interesting. You know your cookies would pair well with one of my teas."

Tetsuya tilted his head just a bit, his bangs unknowingly moving just a bit to reveal one of his wide, hopeful eyes. Unbeknownst to him, this had earned him some looks from some of the girls (and a few of his new male classmates) of the class with a universal thought of how adorable he looked. "Really?"

"Yes." Yaoyorozu-san nodded, giving him a soft smile. "Maybe you could come over for some tea one weekend. I'd love to have some company."

"I'd like that..." Tetsuya returned a bright smile.

"If you're here to make friends, go someplace else," a voice sighed out of nowhere, making Tetsuya perk up. "This is the Department of Heroics, not social sciences." The already open door opened wider and a sleeping bag rolled in before unzipping, and a tall, lanky man stepped out of it. Sho-chan! Tetsuya couldn't stop from grinning at the sight of him, his unkempt, black hair hung in front of his face (Sho-chan must have forgotten to brush his hair again...) as three students steeped back to let him inside. "Hmm... It took you lot eight seconds to quiet down. Life is short kids; you are all lacking in common sense." His tired eyes looked around the room, yawning loudly. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. Pleasure meeting all of you."

This was going to be awesome! He was so excited by the prospect that Sho-chan was going to be his homeroom... teacher... Why was Sho-chan giving them a sadistic grin? Oh... Oh no... Tetsuya bowed his head.

This was Sho-chan...

Why did Tetsuya think that he'd be able to escape Sho-chan's sadism at U.A.? There was no way that'd ever happen... Not even after death. Sho-chan would just haunt him like he always said...

Sighing, he watched as Sho-chan reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a red, white, and blue track uniform. He shoved it in the fluffy green-haired boy's freckled face. "Wear these. Immediately. And then shove off to the P.E. grounds."

And so, let it begin.

* * *

 **Location: Outside P.E. Courtyard, West Side of U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: April 9, 20XX – Monday**

While they had been changing, Tetsuya had learned the names of his male classmates. They were all pretty... expressive... in their own way. The two boys from earlier were Fumikage Tokoyami-san, who didn't speak much, and Shoto Todoroki-san, who ignored them. Yuga Aoyama-san was a stylized blond-haired boy with bright indigo eyes and a slim build that liked to pose and speak in French. Mashirao Ojiro-san was the blonde he had seen earlier, the one with a tail, who was very calm and was talking with Koji Koda-san, a tall young man with a muscular build, or at least trying to. He was signing things to the other (Tetsuya made a mental note to brush up on his sign language) though Ojiro-san didn't understand.

Denki Kaminari-san, the other blonde from before, was chatting easily and casually with the spiky red-haired Eijiro Kirishima-san, who had a small scar just above his right eye and very sharp teeth, and Hanta Sero-san, with almond-shaped eyes and black hair; he was very friendly. Mezo Shoji-san was a silent giant, the tallest in class, who covered the lower half of his face and had six arms all attached to each other by a web of skin. Rikido Sato-san was another tall young man with short brown hair and small black eyes. He didn't speak much either unless spoken too.

Then there was Katsuki Bakugo-san, a very explosive boy with short, spiky ash-blond hair and sharp, bright red eye that glared at any who came near him as he yelled, and Izuku Midoriya-san. His green expressive eyes sparkled as he studied each of his new classmates, asking them question after question when he could. He kept calling Bakugo-san Kacchan too. Maybe they were childhood friends...

They were all, along with the girls, outside under the bright sun, as Sho-chan (he really needed to start calling him sensei... Sho-sensei? Aizawa-sensei? Sho-chan-sensei?) stood in front of them, slumped over as they got ready for the Quirk Apprehension Test. Tetsuya stood off to the side, arms wrapped around himself.

"What about the Opening Ceremony and the Guidance Counselor meeting!?" Uraraka-san questioned loudly above the rest.

Sho-chan (he'd decide on what to call him later) croaked out, "If you want to be Heroes, we don't have time for frilly niceties." He looked at the whole class. "You all understand the school's reputation for freedom on campus. Well, that 'freedom' goes for us senseis, too. "Softball pitch. Standing long jump. Upper body exercise. Fifty-meter dash. Endurance running. Grip strength test. Sustained sideways jumps. Seated toe-touch... These are all activities you know from middle school, naturally. Physical tests where you were barred from using your Quirk. The country still hasn't gotten around to standardizing those sorts of records or keeping track of average performance levels. Well, that's negligence on the part of MEXT.* Bakugo." He looked at the glaring explosive boy. "How far could you pitch a softball in middle school?"

Bakugo-san grumbled, "Sixty-seven meters."

"Try doing it with your Quirk." Sho-chan made a lazy hand motion for him to step up to the pitching circle, tossing a softball to him. "As long as you don't exit the circle, anything you do is fine. Don't hold back." Sho-chan stepped back as Bakugo-san's cocky grin widened, rotating his arm.

"You got it." Taking a step back, he wound up his throw before launching the ball with a shout of "DIIIIEEEEEE!", an explosion coming off his hand, propelling it through the air. The explosion kicked up dust into the class of surprised looks. Tetsuya flinched at the sudden loud noise, gapping as the ball soared through the air.

"Before anything else, one must know what they're capable of." When the ball landed on the ground, Sho-chan showed them that it was 705.2 meters away from them. "This is a rational metric that will form the basis of your 'Hero Foundation'."

"Awesome!"

"That looks so fun!"

"That far?! So unreal!"

"We can really use our quirks now?! That's U.A. for you!"

"It looks... fun, you say?" Sho-chan muttered head leaned forward as the class chattered away. Tetsuya gulped, inching away when Sho-chan's head shot up, the look in his eyes silencing the group of students instantly. Sho-chan's tone turned serious and grim; he gazed intently at the group of students. "So, you were planning to spend your three years here having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming Heroes? All right then." He glared at them. "There's a brand new rule: The student who ranks last in total points will be judged as _hopeless_ and instantly expelled."

There he went.

Sho-chan gave them a snide grin, brushing his bangs up with one hand to sneer at them. "In this school, our 'freedom' means we can dispense students as we please. Welcome to U.A's Hero Course, brats."

It was true.

Sho-chan had done it before and he was not afraid to do it again, even to Tetsuya. But he knew Sho-chan. He wanted his students to do their best, so this was a logical ruse in order to bring the most out of the others. Sho-chan liked to do that when Tetsuya was a kid when he began to train him, and it worked... Tetsuya was sad to say he fell for it too many times to count... He liked to do it to Hi-chan a lot too. Hi-chan still fell for them often too. It was always amusing to watch when Hi-chan realized it was just a ruse.

But...

No.

He wouldn't allow that to happen. He had already come this far! Tetsuya would not allow himself to be expelled! He wanted to show Sho-chan that everything he did wouldn't go to waste. He would show everyone that somebody with a Quirk like his could become a Hero too!

"Expelled?! Go home?! You just can't do that!" Uraraka-san exclaimed desperately. "This is our first day here! But even if it weren't... that's just too _unreasonable_!"

"That's right. It is unreasonable," he agreed; Uraraka-san was a little taken aback. "Natural disasters... Massive accidents... Ego-mad villains... All kinds of calamities can happen when we least expect them. Japan's now positively drenched in _unreasonable_." Sho-chan lowered his hand, hair falling back messily. "And it's our _job_ as Heroes to reverse it all and restore order. If you were counting on a friendly chat at the local McDonald's after school, that's too bad. From now on, for the next three years, all you can expect from your life at U.A. is one hardship after the next. This is _Plus Ultra_. I expect you to overcome these trials and climb to the top!"

It was decided. Tetsuya had no choice but to give it his all!

"Now, a demonstration is in order." Sho-chan's smirk turned cocky, making a _'come at me'_ motion at them. "Time to step up to the plate."

Immediately, the Quirk Apprehension Test began, and they started with the fifty-meter dash. They were allowed to use their Quirks and so Tetsuya took the option to take off his shoes and socks as the first set of students started their fifty-meter dash. It got him a few weird looks before he made a gagging noise and opened his mouth. Out came a black fog and he felt himself change as usual. Stretching, the fog faded away not really minding the startled looks he got. They were normal. What did surprise him, however, was the look of awe he got from Midoriya-san. Tetsuya looked away, slightly uncomfortable from the look.

Soon enough it was his turn for the fifty-meter dash.

Based on the seat numbers they had been assigned to, he had been paired up with Yaoyorozu-san. As he got into position, she smiled at her racing partner. He nodded to her, bending down on the pedals. He did not see the curious glance he had gotten from Yaoyorozu-san, surprised at how different he looked with his wilder features compared to the tame, small animal look he had before. He was taller, his hair sticking up like it hadn't been brushed in weeks, and his nails were sharper. What creeped her out the most was... his stretched out, torn-like mouth (if you could call it that) but she had seen much scarier things in her life, so it really didn't bother her in the end. There was also the fight-or-flight feeling she felt before when she was near him, but it was... muted. Was it because the longer she had been exposed to him the less the effects were? Did he have more control of that effect in this form? Or did it simply not affect her as much due to finding the other utterly adorable?

There was no time to think of anything else as the gun cracked and they were off. Tetsuya was off at the drop of the pin, sprinting, running way past Yaoyorozu-san without much effort. Without realizing it, he had gotten past the finish line seconds later.

"Four-point-three-seven seconds!" The robot said, keeping track of all their scores.

Tetsuya perked up, smiling a bit at the time as he stood. That was better than before! He had never been allowed to use his Quirk before, even when Sho-chan had him perform the exercises under his watch. He had put an emphasis on not relying on one's Quirk all the time as you could never know when you'd be in a situation when not being able to use it was unavoidable. So, with his Quirk, it had shaved at least three seconds off his time.

Letting out a deep breath, he watched Yaoyorozu-san finish up close behind him. She was panting a bit as she passed the finish line, pleased with her results.

"Oh my god! You're so fast!" A pink-skinned girl with horns and black sclera trembled with excitement. "What's your name again? You had transformed and I was like that's so cool! Does it take a lot out of you? You look so different now! Do you have to always do that? Can you do anything else?!"

Tetsuya stiffened, nearly jumping away when the girl got closer. He fidgeted, smiling nervously at her. "Oh, um no... Not really... It doesn't t-take much, but it can uh... take a lot if I'm in this form for t-too long. I can do a few things..." He muttered.

She bounced up and down on the heels of her shoes. "Sweet! Oh, My name's Mina Ashido by the way!" Her eyes, so similar to his own but a much brighter yellow, sparkled with interest. "What's yours? Wanna be friends?"

"Tetsuya Kurosawa..." How was she not afraid? Was she one of the few that his Quirk didn't affect? "And sure... If you... um... want too..."

"Totally!" she said before looking up as her name was called. "Sorry, that's me! Bye!" He watched her run to the starting line as Yaoyorozu-san came over.

They chatted for a bit, her doing most of the talking as he listened about the fundamentals of running and how it was good for the body. Tetsuya didn't mind. He was just happy someone was giving him the time of day and not running away the first chance they got. Soon enough, Sho-chan directed them to the next station. "Alright now, grip strength test!"

The next three tests, the grip strength test, the standing long jump test, and the repeated side steps test, passed in a blur. He hadn't done too bad with his scores ranging from average to a little above average. It was likely going to be like that for the rest of the tests as well. The only tests after the softball throw were the seated toe touches, sit-ups, and long-distance run. Tetsuya watched as each of his classmates went; the one brown-haired girl with cute eyes made the ball float with her Quirk. When Sho-chan showed the score she got, the infinity sign, everyone knew that ball would get lost in space. There were a lot of people who were doing great, like Todoroki-san and Midoriya-san (though Bakugo-san called him Deku for whatever reason) even if he had hurt himself from his amazing Quirk, and that kinda overwhelmed him.

What if Sho-chan expelled him in the end?

He wanted to prove himself!

It was finally Tetsuya's turn. And he was the last to go.

Stepping up to the circle, clumsily catching the ball Sho-chan had thrown to him, he got himself ready. Everyone's eyes were on him, watching with a mixture of boredom, curiosity, and sneers. Tetsuya knew he wasn't going to go as far as some of the others, but he knew he could do it! Maybe...

He'd try his best!

 _That was all he could do..._

Taking his position, he pushed back with his back foot as he planted his front foot forward. Raising his arm high in the air behind him, he tossed it with the snap of the wrist. It soared through the air, arching, and flying until it finally hit the ground far away.

"Ninety-five meters," Sho-chan said, raising the phone-like device in his hand to the class so everyone can see the results just as he had done for everyone else.

That was... better than he had expected. He had been sixth from the bottom. At least he wasn't at the bottom!

"Seated toe touches is next," Sho-chan yawned, slumped over as he walked towards the gym. He never looked back as the class followed him like lost little ducks.

Tetsuya was glad that this one had been pretty easy due to his flexibility. Glancing around, he had found he was the only one who could lay his whole upper body against the floor easily. There were a few that were close but none like how he was able to do. Kaminari-san, who could only do halfway, was giving him a strange frown while Bakugo-san, who was the closest right after him, growled at him. Tetsuya quickly looked away.

There were two girls who had been able to get close: Ashido-san, who sat near him, and a girl with long green hair, the end of it tied in a bow, and large black eyes staring blankly at him further away. The pink-skinned girl gave him a thumbs-up; he hesitantly gave one back to her.

"Dude! That's so manly that you can go that far! How can you even do that? Are you in any pain?" Tetsuya turned his head, looking at Kirishima-san who had taken up his left side. He was about a third of the way down.

He shook his head. "No."

"Could you always do that?"

"I uh... guess..."

"You think you can bend like a pretzel?"

"M-maybe... I'm not exactly sure..."

Before he could ask another question, Sho-chan barked out that they were moving onto the upper body exercises. Tetsuya bit his bottom lip, sitting up with ease. The cold was starting to bother him. It wasn't much, just a tad bit but he hoped the exercises would end sooner rather than later just to be safe. And as if the gods had heard him, his wish was granted as the last two exercises were done. During the sit-ups, he had been paired off with Todoroki-san (who had been surprisingly unaffected by his Quirk - maybe it was due to the ice elemental based Quirk he had). Going back outside, the long-distance run had been similar to the fifty-meter dash, just longer, and Tetsuya would say he did well enough against the other four, Kirishima-san, Iida-san, and a bubbly invisible girl, getting second place. He was happy with his results.

Tetsuya panted, letting out a long sigh as he stood up and wiped away the sweat gathered on his forehead with his sleeve. He heard his class chatter around him. Stretching a bit, he felt someone staring at him. Looking around, he froze when he caught Iida-san staring at him before looking away swiftly when they locked eyes.

Was... Was he still bothered by Tetsuya's Quirk?

He hoped not...

He really did! He didn't want the other to feel any discomfort due to him.

Before he could even take another step, Iida-san walked off and Sho-chan called them all over to gather around him so they could go over the results. Tetsuya let out a deep breath, shoulders slumping as he felt himself shrink down and the effects of the transformation reverse. He felt so much better now that it was over even if his muscles were screaming in pain at the moment.

"Time to give you brats all your results. The total is simply the aggregate sum of each of your scores. If I recited all your scores it'd take a million years, so I'll disclose them all at once," Sho-chan yawned, blinking slowly as he clicked his remote and a holographic scoreboard showed up. He was not last... Not by a long shot... He was seventh. Yaoyorozu-san was in first with Todoroki-san right behind her in second place. They were both really, really amazing! "Oh yeah, that whole 'expulsion' thing was a lie." Sho-chan's shit-eating grin was something akin to what a Demon King would use when he foiled all of the Hero's attempts to kill him. (Sho-chan would fit that role to a T too. Hi-chan would be the captive princess and he could be the knight!) "It was a logical ruse to pull out your best performances."

Tetsuya had to cover his ears when about eighty percent of the class screamed variations of "WHAT?!"

He had too much fun doing this...

Sho-chan might not see it but Hi-chan's flair for dramatics had rubbed off on him way more than he would realize. Tetsuya found the thought very amusing.

Sho-chan ignored them, picking at his ear. "Right... Yup. With that, it's over. Your curriculum sheets are back in the classroom so give them a once-over." Their homeroom teacher took something from his pocket, "And Midoriya..."

"Yes?!" The boy stiffened, back straight.

Sho-chan handed him a piece of paper. "Go to Recovery Girl and get yourself patched up. Since your eyeballs will doubtlessly pop out of their sockets at tomorrow's absurd ordeal."

"Uh... Okay..."

Tetsuya watched him leave silently, hands in pockets, before heading back to class.

* * *

 **Location: Class 1-A, U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: April 9, 20XX – Monday**

Tetsuya had learned they'd be allowed to leave early after getting changed back into his school uniform. Arriving at the class with the others, he entered inside to pack up whatever he had left out and the papers that had been left on his desk, placing them in a folder. Feeling someone staring at him, he glanced up, pausing in his packing, and caught Iida-san staring at him again. Tetsuya looked away just as quickly as the other did, getting caught once again. Tetsuya wasn't sure what he wanted but it was making him rather nervous. He didn't want a repeat from this morning. Finishing up, he smiled brightly at his desk neighbor. "Y-You did a really good job, Yaoyorozu-san! You worked v-very hard to get first place!"

"Really?" She raised a curious eyebrow.

Tetsuya nodded fervently, unknowingly getting coos and squeals from the other girls. "You must have trained a lot to be this s-strong!"

She smiled at the adorableness, unable to stop herself from picturing flowers and bright bubbles floating around the boy. "You think I'm strong?"

"Yeah!"

"Thank you, Kurosawa-kun." She really wanted to pat his hair. It looked so soft. His Quirk stopped her though. She understood what would happen if she did touch him and he had been truly sorry. Still... It was really tempting... But then Tetsuya stared at her for a moment, making her frown. "What is it? Is there something on my face?" Yaoyorozu-san reached up to touch her cheek, checking.

"Uh... um... Your smile... It's really p-pretty..." Tetsuya admitted, fidgeting with his fingers. "Yaoyorozu-san..."

A light pink dusted Yaoyorozu-san's cheeks. "Oh, how sweet of you to say!" She rested a hand against her burning cheek. Truly. He was such a sweet boy. In such a short time, she felt a need to protect the small boy. She didn't know why and honestly she didn't mind it. Taking out her phone, she turned it on. "Could we perhaps exchange numbers? I would love to invite you over some time for a pot of tea."

Tetsuya muttered, staring up at her with wide eyes, a knot starting to form in his gut. "D-does that mean... we're f-f... friend?"

Yaoyorozu-san blinked for a moment before smiling gently. "Of course."

"Yes!" Golden eyes lightened up, happiness filling them as warmth took over the knot. "I-I mean... Sure..." They exchanged numbers and Tetsuya couldn't help but let out a giggle, staring at the newest number (dubbing her henceforth as Momo-chan in the phone) with glee. He has another friend now! That was two now! (Or... Or was it one? Hitoshi...) "I can bring cookies too, Momo! There's so many I can bring over and- Ah..." He exclaimed, eyes slowly widening at the slip-up. He bowed his head. "S-sorry... I didn't mean t-to call you th-"

"I don't mind."

Tetsuya's head snapped up. "Huh?"

"I don't mind if you call me Momo, Kurosawa-kun." Yaoyorozu-san smiled at him again. She really did have a pretty smile.

"Th-then call me Tetsuya or Tetsu if you... want..." Tetsuya felt his cheeks burn as he glanced away.

Yao... Momo nodded. "Tetsu-kun then."

Tetsuya didn't know why but hearing her call him that made his heart swell so much in happiness. It didn't matter if he didn't know why but he really liked the feeling of hearing Momo call him that. The idea of another friend made him all wobbly too and it was with a girl that had a really pretty smile! It was like a gentle sunrise over the mountain, soft sun rays beaming down on him. It made him feel just a smidge of warmth, biting at coldness lingering inside him and that made him so warm. A good but confused warmth. He couldn't wait to tell Yoru all about his day! And show everyone the new number! Hi-chan and Sho-chan would be so proud of him!

Tetsuya giggled a bit.

Afterward, they said their goodbyes, separating at the classroom door. She went to leave as he made his way to the teacher's lounge. He needed to see what Sho-chan wanted for dinner so he could pick up the ingredients on his way home.

* * *

 **Location: In Front of U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu Ward, South of Tokyo Prefecture, Kanto Region, Honshu, Japan**

 **Date: April 9, 20XX – Monday**

Taking a step outside, Tetsuya took a moment to appreciate a short, cool breeze. Sho-chan had wanted Omurice (Hi-chan had wanted hamburger but was quickly shot down - Tetsuya would incorporate a bit of hamburger meat for Hi-chan's portion) which was good because they only needed one or two things then. Taking a deep breath, he began to walk happily when he froze upon seeing a trio of students walking together - Iida-san and Uraraka-san were on either side of Midoriya-san. They were all talking with one another, looking like they were having fun. They must be friends now.

Good for them. No, really! Tetsuya was happy his classmates were getting along. Friends were a precious thing to have and he felt this trio would become inseparable further down the road. He had made a friend just now as well (who'd he message when he got home! Maybe Momo liked cats too! He hoped so!) and he hoped to make more tomorrow...

Still...

His hands gripped the strap of his backpack, knuckles going white, as he bowed his head and sped up his walking. Shoulders tensing as he had neared them, he made sure to look inconspicuous but that wasn't enough. It was not even ten feet away when he heard someone call him.

"Hey! Wait! Please! Kurosawa!"

Freezing, he forced whatever was coming up his throat to go back down and turn around halfway to Iida-san stopping behind him. "Wh... What do you w-want?"

Tetsuya felt like he was being dissected under the other's gaze; the sunlight caused the glasses to glare, blocking him from seeing Iida-san's eyes. Why was he being so quiet? Was he trying to come up to what to lecture him on? Tetsuya mentally shook his head, turning around to face him fully. It was faint, but he could see the taller boy shivering just ever so slightly.

"I'M SORRY!" Iida-san suddenly shouted, bowing exactly ninety degrees, making Tetsuya jump.

"I- uh- S-stop! Wh-what are you doing?!" Tetsuya began to panic.

"I shouldn't have told you off earlier! It was not my place to! It had been none of my business to say that and even if it was, I shouldn't have done it the way I should have. I'm very ashamed of my actions! They were unbefitting of a future Hero. I shouldn't have done it in the first place!"

Tetsuya looked away. "Yeah... Y-you shouldn't have..." He muttered, voice quiet, "But you didn't know a-anything at the time. I'm used to it th-though..."

"But-"

He shook his head, giving him a blank stare. "My Quirk... It... instills fear in others. A deep, horrible fear that goes beyond the surface... A primal fear. One that's so deeply set inside someone that it reaches them like no other 'ordinary' fear... It plays with the flight or fight instinct humans have too... Like if you... Say you are a zebra and you were being hunted by a predator like a lion. It's something like that... Always like that. I-I can't turn it off. I've tried too but..." He trailed off, not really sure why he was explaining this. Golden eyes stared down at the still bowed student, a hint of a deep sadness in them, silent for a moment. "P-please stop bowing, Iida-san."

"I'm truly sorry! Really! I had no idea that you had such a difficult Quirk." Iida-san insisted, hands making a chopping motion. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!"

"Y-You didn't know... It's okay," Tetsuya muttered, definitely sounding anything but.

"I-I hope we can be on better terms from tomorrow onwards!"

Tetsuya didn't comment. He simply stuck a hand in his bag and grabbed some chocolate, pulling it out and holding it for the other. "Here." Iida-san stared at the offering. "You're shaking," he pointed out.

Iida-san stared at his hand, eyes widening. "I am..."

"Like I-I've said before, chocolate helps with recovery from my Q-Quirk. I uh... carry it around with me because of that... Share it with your f-friends." He made a gesture to the two who hovered nearby. "I'll see you t-tomorrow... I guess..."

With that, Tetsuya turned on the heel of his shoe and walked away. He never turned back when Iida-san called out to him again.

* * *

 _*The manga says that MEXT is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology._

 **Author's Note: So... This chapter was annoying to remake. I lost all of my work when the internet decided to be a brat and not work! It was going to be out last week too. So yeah... The only thing that was good was that I have a backup copy of the plotline. But what's been done has already been done and it's already in the past so I really can't cry over spilled milk and all that anymore. I've already complained enough about it to my friends as it is. But at least it is finished and out now. ^^**

 **On to the chapter itself.**

 **It was a long one. Longer then I thought but I really wanted to try doing more interacting with other characters. What do you think? It might have not been a lot, but you got a little bit of good and a little bit of bad! Tetsuya… You are a ball of fluffy sunshine you're going to give the girls cavities with all that cuteness! How dare Iida do that do you! Momo is a good girl! Protective Momo! Mama Momo!**

 **And Tetsuya, we all know you'd be the princess...**


End file.
